Dem opponent blasts Toomey over Trump tapes
Democratic Senate candidate Katie McGinty is taking a swing at Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) over Donald Trump, demanding he formally break with the GOP presidential nominee over lewd comments he made about women.
“It’s quite clear that Senator Toomey is leading with calculations about his political future, instead of with courage to stand up for his constituents in Pennsylvania who deserve to have a president and a presidential nominee of decent and honorable character,” McGinty told reporters during a conference call Monday.
{mosads}She added that Toomey, who has been on the fence for months over Trump, is “totally, thoroughly unwilling to stand up” to the businessman.
The criticism comes after The Washington Post published a recording Friday of Trump making explicit comments about trying to have sex with women, which were caught on a hot mic in 2005. The remarks sparked widespread backlash, including from a handful of vulnerable GOP senators who are in tight Senate races.
McGinty said that while Trump’s leaked comments were “even more expansive and excessive in how offensive” they were, it is “nothing new” for the GOP nominee.
“We’re 16 months into his carnival race for president of the United States,” she said. “Donald Trump is confessing to and bragging about sexually assaulting women. That’s a crime. … It is well past time for Pat Toomey to man up to declare absolutely unacceptable not only Donald Trump’s comments but his character.”
The GOP senator reiterated on Monday that he has not endorsed Trump.
“I have repeatedly spoken out against his flawed policies, and his outrageous comments, including his indefensible and appalling comments about women,” he added in a statement. “Katie McGinty has yet to say a single word against Hillary Clinton’s disastrous policies that have endangered our country, her widespread dishonesty, or the corruption of her behavior with the Clinton Foundation.”
Toomey did not say in the statement whether he would ultimately support Trump in November.
Toomey had been scheduled to speak to a group of high school students in Pennsylvania on Monday, but the event was canceled. McGinty floated during the call with reporters that he was trying to dodge facing potential questions about Trump.
“Pat Toomey likes to say that he’s going to go to Washington to stand up to Donald Trump? Really? Well how about standing up to Donald Trump right here right now today. Why hasn’t he been standing up to Donald Trump for the last 16 months,” she said.
Democrats have raced to link GOP candidates to Trump in the wake of Friday’s tapes. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee released an ad Monday featuring the Trump remarks, as well as comments from Toomey and other GOP senators refusing to rule out ultimately supporting the businessman.
With roughly a month before the election, Toomey and McGinty are currently locked in a dead heat in a race that will likely help determine which party controls the Senate next year.
With Republicans defending 24 seats, Democrats need to net five seats — or four if they also retain the White House — to regain a majority in the upper chamber.
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