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Pence backs off from subbing for Trump in Wisconsin as fallout intensifies

Tony Cook , Chelsea Schneider and Maureen Groppe , IndyStar 2:30 p.m. EDT October 8, 2016


Trump's lewd comments about women cause some GOP leaders to distance themselves from him

It is expected that Gov. Mike Pence will no longer stand in for Donald Trump at a Republican Party event in Wisconsin on Saturday.

Pence said Saturday he was "offended by the words and actions" of his running mate, a statement that came just hours after a devastating recording surfaced in which Donald Trump makes lewd comments about women

Pence’s statement did not address the Wisconsin event. But a source familiar with the plan confirmed to IndyStar that Pence no longer planned to attend.

Pence had been set to replace Trump at the GOP event, after U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, called off Trump’s appearance. Pence’s lieutenant governor and Republican candidate for Indiana governor Eric Holcomb also denounced Trump’s comments.

Trump, meanwhile, issued a statement apologizing “if anyone was offended.”

The recording of Trump on a hot mic prior to a soap opera appearance in 2005 was obtained by NBC News and the Washington Post.

“I'm automatically attracted to beautiful women — 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," Trump said. "Grab 'em by the (expletive)."

In his initial written response, Trump said Friday: “This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course — not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended.”

Later in the day, Ryan released this statement:

“I am sickened by what I heard today. Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified. I hope Mr. Trump treats this situation with the seriousness it deserves and works to demonstrate to the country that he has greater respect for women than this clip suggests. In the meantime, he is no longer attending tomorrow’s event in Wisconsin.”

Other top Indiana Republicans declined to say whether they still support Trump, but they sharply denounced Trump’s decade-old comments.

“These are absolutely unacceptable thoughts and comments,” Holcomb said.

"I think Donald Trump's terrible comments were beyond offensive,” said U.S. Rep. Todd Young, the Republican candidate competing for Indiana’s open U.S. Senate seat.

After Ryan canceled Trump's Wisconsin appearance, the GOP nominee announced a short time later that he would be "spending the day in New York in debate prep with RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Jeff Sessions, and then flying to St. Louis on Sunday for the 2nd Presidential Debate."

The timing of the recording's release couldn’t be worse for Trump, who faces Democrat Hillary Clinton at 9 p.m. Sunday (EST) at Washington University in St. Louis for their second primetime debate with just a month before the Nov. 8 election.

Republicans were still assessing the damage from the recording late Friday. Some called on social media for Trump to step down. Others encouraged Pence to drop out in protest.

"Trump should step down immediately tonight, yielding to Governor Pence as the GOP Nominee," Rob Engstrom, national political director for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said on Twitter.

"Does anybody think that a Pence-Ryan ticket wouldn't do better than a Trump-Pence?" Stuart Stevens, a former adviser to 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said on Twitter.

"Mike Pence should be off the ticket by sunrise," John Weaver, a campaign strategist for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, said on Twitter. "He already owns much of what has happened, surely he doesn't want to own this."

In reality though, switching up the ticket would be extremely difficult at this point. Early voting has already started in several states, including the key battleground states of Florida and North Carolina, according to the U.S. Election Project.

While the Republican Party does have a formal process for filling vacancies "by reason of death, declination, or otherwise," it's not clear that a resignation of candidacy would qualify. The party could change the rules, but that would be a lengthy process and virtually impossible to accomplish before the election, according to the Washington Post.

In a video response released early Saturday, Trump showed no interest in stepping aside and apologized again for his lewd comments from 2005.

"I said it, I was wrong and I apologize," Trump said, explaining that the people and experiences he's encountered on the campaign trail have changed him.

Trump added that he is not a perfect person and that his comments from more than a decade ago don't reflect who he is.

But he said there's a big difference between his words and the actions of the Clintons.

"Bill Clinton has actually abused women and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims," Trump said.

He closed his videotaped comments by saying: "See you at the debate on Sunday."

While Pence has not addressed Trump's 2005 comments directly, he previously has dismissed the media’s scrutiny of other controversial Trump comments and tweets, saying he emerges stronger every time.

“He said that, he tweeted that,” Pence said last week during a campaign appearance in Fort Wayne. “They think they finally got him right where they want him, and they turn on the TV the next morning, and Donald Trump is still standing strong fighting for the American people.”

While some Republicans would rather see Pence as the presidential nominee, one political analyst doesn't envision Pence's association with Trump playing out well for him.

"You live by the sword, and you die by the sword – and Donald Trump is a heck of a sword,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.

“I think it will hurt (Pence). The Republican Party is in horrible shape, horrible, and how they put the pieces back together with Humpty Dumpty fallen is beyond me. Pence thought he was well positioned for 2020. Look, he certainly will be in the mix, but obviously there will be anti-Trump candidates, probably plural, who will relive Pence’s pro-Trump fall. They are bound to.”