'This can't continue': GOP heavyweights denounce Trump's remarks about women


The release of graphic remarks Donald Trump made about women in 2005 has thrown the GOP into tumult, with multiple big-name Republicans denouncing Trump's comments, retracting their endorsements, or even calling on him to step out of the presidential race.
Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, released a statement Saturday saying he is "offended" by Trump's remarks and cannot defend them, but will remain on the ticket. House Speaker Paul Ryan called Trump's words "sickening" and uninvited the candidate from a scheduled joint event in his home state of Wisconsin. Trump faced particular backlash from Utah Republicans: Utah Sen. Mike Lee told Trump to drop out, while Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz took back their endorsements.
A host of other Republican heavyweights including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, and Sen. Kelly Ayotte also condemned Trump's words. Nevertheless, the Republican National Committee denied a New York Times report that party leadership is meeting "to discuss what options the party has going forward in case Trump isn't the nominee."
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Watch's Lee's demand for Trump to exit the race below. "This can't continue," he says. "It's time for us not to settle. It's time for us to expect more."
This post has been updated throughout.
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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
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