Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Saturday morning became the third Republican senator to call for Donald Trump to drop out of the presidential race after he was caught on leaked tapes speaking vulgarly about groping women.
Sasse sought to appeal to Trump’s dignity, imploring him to make an “honorable” move and allow running mate Mike Pence to move to the top of the ticket.
“Character matters. @realDonaldTrump is obviously not going to win. But he can still make an honorable move: Step aside & let Mike Pence try,” he tweeted.
{mosads}Trump released an apology video late Friday night, hours after the Washington Post first reported the leaked tapes. The GOP presidential nominee expressed regret, but defiantly attacked former President Bill Clinton for “abuse” of women, saying there’s a “big difference” between his words and Clinton’s actions.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on Friday night asked Trump to step down as GOP presidential nominee in a Facebook video.
“I respectfully ask you, with all due respect, to step aside. Step down, allow someone else to carry the banner of these principles… rather than weighing down the American people,” Lee said.
And Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) also called on Trump to step aside, calling for the GOP to institute “emergency rules” to replace him roughly a month before the election.
Sasse and Lee avoided ever endorsing Trump for president. Kirk endorsed him when he became the nominee, but unendorsed in June over Trump’s attacks on a federal judge’s Mexican heritage.
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz), who also never endorsed Trump, did not explicitly call for his ouster from the GOP ticket, but tweeted Friday night, “America deserves far better than @realDonaldTrump.”
Trump’s lewd comments spiraled into a scandal on Friday afternoon after The Washington Post published video caught on a hot microphone before an appearance on “Access Hollywood.”
The GOP nominee talked about unsuccessfully trying to bed a married woman and said that as a celebrity, women let him “do anything.”
“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything,” he said in the audio.
“Grab them by the p—-.”
Republican leaders including Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus strongly criticized Trump over the tapes Friday, but did not rescind their endorsements.