Speaker Paul D. Ryan said he is "sickened" by lewd comments Donald Trump made about women in a 2005 video disclosed Friday and that the Republican presidential candidate will no longer appear with him at a campaign event in Wisconsin Saturday.
Ryan said in statement late Friday that Trump "is no longer attending" the event -- a festival in Ryan's Wisconsin congressional district. He did not say whether Trump had volunteered to skip the event or whether Ryan had asked Trump not to come.
But he decried Trump's newly revealed comments in stark terms.
In a short statement issued moments after Ryan's, Trump said his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, "will be representing me" at the Wisconsin event while he remained in New York to prepare for Sunday's town hall debate
Many, like Ryan, issued strong statements denouncing his comments but stopped short of rescinding their endorsements.
Trump dismissed the remarks as "locker room banter" and said he apologized "if anyone was offended."
"It is never appropriate to condone unwanted sexual advances or violence against women," said McMorris Rodgers, the Republican Conference chairwoman. "Mr. Trump must realize that it has no place in public or private conversations today or in the past."
Democrats on Friday sought to heighten the pressure on Republican candidates to repudiate Trump entirely. Virtually every Democratic Senate candidate issued statements to that effect, noting that their opponents had stopped short of a total denunciation.
"It is time for every Republican elected official in this county to revoke their endorsements of Donald Trump and state that they will not vote for their party's nominee, who has been caught on tape bragging about routinely sexually assaulting women," he said. "There is no way to defend the indefensible. In the name of decency, Republicans should admit that this deviant -- this sociopath -- cannot be president."
Ryan has been compelled to speak out against Trump on several occasions in the past, including when he called for a "complete ban" on Muslim immigration and when he declined to renounce the support of white supremacist leader David Duke in a television interview.
After Trump secured the Republican nomination in March, Ryan delayed throwing his support behind him, seeking further assurances that he would be a "standard bearer that bears our standards."
Ryan later endorsed Trump, calling him preferable to Hillary Clinton and citing his ability to implement the Republican agenda forged by the House GOP.
The endorsement was sealed after a May closed-door meeting between Trump, Ryan and other House GOP leaders at Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington.
The press was not permitted to photograph the two men together, however. That moment was expected to come Saturday.
Also scheduled to appear at the "FallFest" event are the state's Republican governor, Scott Walker, and Sen. Ron Johnson, who is seeking re-election this year.
© 2016 The Washington Post
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ryan said in statement late Friday that Trump "is no longer attending" the event -- a festival in Ryan's Wisconsin congressional district. He did not say whether Trump had volunteered to skip the event or whether Ryan had asked Trump not to come.
But he decried Trump's newly revealed comments in stark terms.
In a short statement issued moments after Ryan's, Trump said his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, "will be representing me" at the Wisconsin event while he remained in New York to prepare for Sunday's town hall debate
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Many, like Ryan, issued strong statements denouncing his comments but stopped short of rescinding their endorsements.
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Trump dismissed the remarks as "locker room banter" and said he apologized "if anyone was offended."
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"It is never appropriate to condone unwanted sexual advances or violence against women," said McMorris Rodgers, the Republican Conference chairwoman. "Mr. Trump must realize that it has no place in public or private conversations today or in the past."
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Democrats on Friday sought to heighten the pressure on Republican candidates to repudiate Trump entirely. Virtually every Democratic Senate candidate issued statements to that effect, noting that their opponents had stopped short of a total denunciation.
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"It is time for every Republican elected official in this county to revoke their endorsements of Donald Trump and state that they will not vote for their party's nominee, who has been caught on tape bragging about routinely sexually assaulting women," he said. "There is no way to defend the indefensible. In the name of decency, Republicans should admit that this deviant -- this sociopath -- cannot be president."
Ryan has been compelled to speak out against Trump on several occasions in the past, including when he called for a "complete ban" on Muslim immigration and when he declined to renounce the support of white supremacist leader David Duke in a television interview.
After Trump secured the Republican nomination in March, Ryan delayed throwing his support behind him, seeking further assurances that he would be a "standard bearer that bears our standards."
Ryan later endorsed Trump, calling him preferable to Hillary Clinton and citing his ability to implement the Republican agenda forged by the House GOP.
The endorsement was sealed after a May closed-door meeting between Trump, Ryan and other House GOP leaders at Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington.
The press was not permitted to photograph the two men together, however. That moment was expected to come Saturday.
Also scheduled to appear at the "FallFest" event are the state's Republican governor, Scott Walker, and Sen. Ron Johnson, who is seeking re-election this year.
© 2016 The Washington Post
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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