John
McCain withdraws support for Donald Trump over groping boasts
2008
nominee says it is ‘impossible to offer even conditional support’
Sabrina Siddiqui and
Ben Jacobs in St Louis and Edward Helmore in New York
Sunday 9 October
2016 00.17 BST
Senator John McCain
of Arizona withdrew his endorsement of Donald Trump on Saturday, in
one of the most prominent defections among Republicans over the
presidential nominee’s behavior toward women.
The 2008 Republican
presidential nominee issued a statement declaring it “impossible to
continue to offer even conditional support” for Trump, in the wake
of leaked video and audio showing Trump boasting about making sexual
advances toward women without their consent.
“Cindy and I will
not vote for Donald Trump,” McCain said in a statement that
included his wife. “I have never voted for a Democratic
presidential candidate and we will not vote for Hillary Clinton. We
will write in the name of some good conservative Republican who is
qualified to be president.”
Shortly after McCain
released his statement, Trump made a surprise appearance outside
Trump Tower in New York City. Early on Saturday evening, the
billionaire emerged from his skyscraper, where he had been in crisis
talks and debate preparation all day, to greet a group of 100 ardent
supporters who had been demonstrating outside the building since
morning.
Trump shook his fist
in the air, waved and pointed, without saying anything. He then went
quickly back into the building.
His appearance
raised a huge commotion among those gathered on Fifth Avenue in
midtown Manhattan, prompting cheers and chants of “Trump for
president” and “USA! USA!”
One onlooker, Karen
Stecher from Windsor, Canada, said: “It’s ridiculous. I’ve seen
a crowd react to a star in LA but it wasn’t like this. This is like
entertainment but it’s scary because of the anger and aggression.”
Earlier in the
afternoon Trump’s wife, Melania, released a statement in which she
said Trump’s comments were offensive but asked the American people
to see that her husband had “the heart and mind of a leader”.
Reached with a
request for comment about the mounting controversy surrounding her
father’s campaign, Ivanka Trump hung up on the Guardian.
McCain, locked in a
tough re-election battle in Arizona, condemned Trump’s comments
after the release of the 11-year-old Access Hollywood recording on
Friday but initially stopped short of rescinding his endorsement. As
leading Republican officials launched an exodus from Trump in the 24
hours that followed, he faced quickly mounting pressure.
He missed the chance
to show political courage. It’s too late, John McCain. The people
of Arizona deserve better
Anne Kirkpatrick,
McCain opponent
In his statement on
Saturday, he said he had “wanted to support the candidate our party
nominated” and respect the Republican primary process.
“He was not my
choice, but as a past nominee I thought it important I respect the
fact that Donald Trump won a majority of the delegates by the rules
our party set. I thought I owed his supporters that deference,”
McCain wrote.
McCain’s Senate
race could determine whether the Republican party maintains its
precarious control of the chamber. Other Republicans who disavowed
their support for Trump on Saturday included Senate candidates Kelly
Ayotte of New Hampshire, Rob Portman of Ohio, and Joe Heck of Nevada.
Some Republicans
formally called on Trump to step aside and allow his running mate,
Indiana governor Mike Pence, to become the party’s standard-bearer
with just 30 days left until election day. Such voices included John
Thune of South Dakota, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate.
Democrats swiftly
rejected the desertion of Trump by those who had endorsed him as
political calculation – pointing out that Republicans had stood by
the former reality TV star even as he disparaged Mexican immigrants,
Muslims, prisoners of war, the disabled and the Gold Star parents of
an Iraq war hero and repeatedly made crude statements about women.
“McCain made it
clear a long time ago: he is no longer a straight-talking maverick,”
Ann Kirkpatrick, the Democratic congresswoman challenging McCain for
his seat, said in a statement. “He missed the chance to show
political courage and lead. He failed that test. Now, it’s too
late, John McCain. The people of Arizona deserve better.”
McCain was the first
prominent Republican to criticize Trump’s continued insistence that
the Central Park Five, five young African Americans wrongfully
convicted of rape in New York City in 1989, were guilty.
Despite the fact
that the men’s convictions were overturned by DNA evidence, Trump
insisted on Friday that the five, whom he called for to be executed
at the time, were still guilty, pointing out to CNN that the youths
confessed at the time. Trump did not mention that they were beaten by
police and that New York City paid a $41m settlement.
On Saturday, Pence
seemed to leave the crisis entirely in Trump’s hands. In a
statement, Pence said: “As a husband and father I was offended by
the words and actions described by Donald Trump in the 11-year-old
video released yesterday.
“I do not condone
his remarks and cannot defend them. I am grateful that he has
expressed remorse.”
Pence seemed to
suggest that much would depend on Trump’s performance in the second
presidential debate, scheduled for Sunday in St Louis.
“We pray for his
family,” he said, “and look forward to the opportunity he has to
show what is in his heart when he goes before the nation tomorrow
night.”
Paul Ryan addressed
a crowd at a Republican event in Wisconsin, to boos and heckles from
Trump supporters. The nominee had been invited to attend by the House
speaker but in the wake of the controversy on Friday, Ryan rescinded
this invitation.
On Saturday Ryan
took to the stage, saying “there is a bit of an elephant in the
room”. He then referenced his statement on the issue, in which he
said he was “sickened” by Trump’s remarks, before making clear
“that’s not what we are here to talk about today”.
The Clinton campaign
remained silent throughout the day. The Democratic nominee will
address the issue at Sunday’s presidential debate, a campaign
official told the Guardian, as that forum will provide her with the
largest possible audience.
The thinking within
Clinton’s campaign was to let Trump suffer the repercussions of
being unendorsed en masse by members of his own party. Surrogates for
the former secretary of state were also encouraged to temper their
responses.
Clinton’s team was
also certain Trump would remain the Republican nominee, the official
said, it being too late to remove him from the ballot. The campaign
has not yet shifted its resources in light of the leaked video and
plans to move forward with the same battleground plan.
In Manhattan,
Trump’s appearance outside Trump Tower drew enthusiastic responses
from the nominee’s supporters. One, Joseph Conigliaro, said: “I
was excited to see him. He came out of nowhere! Everyone was
screaming.
“He made those
comments when he was a businessman and a TV star. They mean nothing.
People say a lot of things in private they wouldn’t say in public
running for office. It’s freedom of speech. We weren’t paying
him. He was in business.”
Another supporter,
Anne McLain, said: “I felt so excited. I appreciate it. I called
him Mr President. He’s going to build a wall to look after our
national security. He’s loves women. Regardless of what he said in
a bar 10 years ago.”
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