Indiana Governor, Mike Pence, the Republican vice presidential nominee, released a statement Saturday denouncing lewd comments Donald Trump made about women in 2005, saying he “cannot defend them.”
“As a husband and father, I was offended by the words and actions described by Donald Trump in the eleven-year-old video released yesterday. I do not condone his remarks and cannot defend them,” Pence said in a statement.
“I am grateful that he has expressed remorse and apologized to the American people. We pray for his family and look forward to the opportunity he has to show what is in his heart when he goes before the nation tomorrow night.”
BREAKING: statement from @mike_pence nearly 21 hours after Trump tape audio leaked: pic.twitter.com/POh5ORJkc1
— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) October 8, 2016
The Washington Post published the footage of Trump on Friday. In it, Trump talks about trying to have sex with married women and being able to grab women “by the pussy” because of his fame.
After the recording was released, Trump was dropped from a Saturday event in Wisconsin with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R). Pence was scheduled to take his place, but the governor decided on Saturday that he also would not attend the event.
After first issuing a nonapology and calling his comments “locker room talk,” Trump released a video saying he “was wrong” to have said what he did. He also vowed he would “never” drop out of the presidential race.
A slew of Republicans rescinded their support for Trump over the comments, but several top members of the party ― including Ryan ― haven’t actually withdrawn their endorsements of the presidential nominee.
