GOP Senator Will Vote For Trump After Rescinding Endorsement Over 2005 Tape

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 15: Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idao, arrives in the Capitol for a vote on Thursday, September 15, 2016. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) pulled his endorsement of Donald Trump in early October over the 2005 tape revealing the GOP nominee’s vulgar comments about women, but just two weeks later the Republican senator now says he will vote for Trump after all.

“The choice we still have today and the choice we will have is between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton,” Crapo told conservative radio host Neal Larson on Friday, according to the Idaho State Journal. “In that context, I have to tell you, though I thought and felt we needed a different choice, that’s not what we’re going to get, and we cannot elect Hillary Clinton for many reasons. … Given that choice, I will vote for the Republican ticket: Trump and (vice presidential nominee Mike) Pence.”

Crapo said that he wants a president “who will appoint strong Supreme Court justices, who will interpret the Constitution as it was written and who will help lead us to a stronger free market and a more limited government.”

“In that context, I don’t think the choice is that hard when we realize the decision this country must make,” he said, according to the Idaho State Journal.

These comments come about two weeks after Crapo rescinded his endorsement of Trump and urged him to drop out of the race in the wake of a 2005 tape in which Trump brags about grabbing and kissing women without permission.

“I have reached a decision that I can no longer endorse Donald Trump. This is not a decision that I have reached lightly, but his pattern of behavior has left me no choice. His repeated actions and comments toward women have been disrespectful, profane and demeaning,” Crapo said in a statement at the time. “I have spent more than two decades working on domestic violence prevention. Trump’s most recent excuse of ‘locker room talk’ is completely unacceptable and is inconsistent with protecting women from abusive, disparaging treatment.”

Crapo is not the first Republican lawmaker to say that he will vote for Trump after calling on the Republican nominee to drop out of the race. Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE), Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), and Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL), all called for Mike Pence to replace Trump as the Republican nominee following the tape’s release, and later said they would still vote for Trump.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. The aptly named Senator Crapo. Senator Craven Crapo–has a nice ring, i think.

  2. Well, Crap-O another sales associate for flip flops.

  3. Name says it all. #lowhangingfruit

  4. Our posts must have been nearly simultaneous.

  5. Cruz: Exactly. I am the leader that everyone is now following. Trump is a pathological liar and sexual assaulter. We just don’t like Trump. We will gladly vote for him.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

41 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for fgs Avatar for ajaykalra Avatar for sysprog Avatar for krusher Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for yskov Avatar for uggswell_p_gravel Avatar for spocksblackpants Avatar for stradivarius50t3 Avatar for pquincy Avatar for drywit Avatar for jeffrey Avatar for riverstreet Avatar for khaaannn Avatar for greycardinal Avatar for beattycat Avatar for castorita Avatar for caltg Avatar for remy Avatar for transjane Avatar for gregangelo Avatar for dannysgrandma Avatar for mrjj

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: