The North Carolina Democratic Party is hammering Sen. Richard Burr (R) for refusing to break from his support of Donald Trump in light of the release of lewd video involving Trump late last week.
The party’s new video juxtaposes Trump’s more controversial comments from the campaign, including the new revelations of him talking about grabbing a woman sexually without consent, to cast the Republican senator as “putting politics before North Carolina.”
{mosads}“Richard Burr’s decision to look out for himself and continue serving on Donald Trump’s campaign, even in the face of Trump’s latest vile comments about women, just shows once again that Richard Burr is a classic Washington politician who puts his own political interests first,” said Matt Kravitz, the party’s press secretary, in a statement.
“That’s wrong, and North Carolina voters want a Senator who will stand up for our values, not Donald Trump’s.”
Burr condemned the new audio in a statement this weekend, calling the Republican presidential nominee’s remarks “inappropriate and completely unacceptable.” But in a statement to CBS News, he declined to immediately withdraw his support.
“I am going to watch his level of contrition over the next few days to determine my level of support,” he told the network.
Trump addressed the comments during Sunday’s presidential debate, apologizing for “locker room talk” and arguing the controversy is distracting from the real issues.
More than two dozen GOP lawmakers, including Senate Republican Conference Chair John Thune (S.D.), have called on the presidential nominee to step aside in response to those videos — with most calling on Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence to assume control of the ticket.
Deborah Ross, the Democrat running for Burr’s seat, condemned his decision not to break from Trump but argued in a statement that he is “long past the point when he should have rejected Trump.”
Burr and Ross remain in a tight battle just weeks ahead of Election Day, effectively tied in the RealClearPolitics average of recent polls.