State's GOP still backs Trump; some pitch Pence

As Republican lawmakers around the country denounced their party's presidential nominee Saturday over lewd remarks he made about women in a 2005 video, U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman and Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas suggested Donald Trump might need to give up his candidacy.

"Donald Trump's recently surfaced comments from 2005 are disgusting and would be fighting words had they been said about my wife or daughter," Westerman said in a statement. "In these uncertain times, America needs leadership we can respect and trust and our current choices of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are proving to provide neither.

"My preference is for Mr. Trump to give serious thought as to what is best for our country," he continued. "If that is to step aside and let Gov. Pence lead the ticket to prevent a Hillary Clinton presidency, then I would be in full support."

Since Friday, several members of the Republican Party have withdrawn their support of Trump in light of his comments in the 2005 video that surfaced last week. Even Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, rebuked the nominee, saying, in part, "I do not condone his remarks and cannot defend them."

[INTERACTIVE: The 2016 election in Arkansas]

In the video, Trump is heard making lewd comments about a woman he tried to seduce. He also said he was "automatically" attracted to beautiful women.

"I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait," Trump said in the video. "And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything."

"Grab them by the p****," he continued. "You can do anything."

Speaking to the Republican Party of Iowa's Reagan Day dinner Saturday night, Cotton also suggested Trump might need to step aside, calling the nominee's words "demeaning and shameful."

"Donald doesn't have much choice at this point: He needs to throw himself on the mercy of the American people" during today's debate, Cotton said. "He needs to take full responsibility for his words and his behavior, he needs to beg their forgiveness, and he needs to pledge to finally change his ways.

"And he needs to ask for one last chance to stop the dangerous consequences of a Hillary Clinton presidency and to bring the change this country needs so badly, from higher wages for working families to better health care to safer streets.

"If he doesn't do those things, if he won't do those things, then he should step aside and allow the Republican Party to replace him with an elder statesman who will."

Three days before the video surfaced, the Trump campaign named Westerman and Cotton to Trump's state campaign leadership team, which Gov. Asa Hutchinson was picked to lead. The other Arkansas Republicans named to the team were state Attorney General Leslie Rutledge; U.S. Sen. John Boozman; U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford, French Hill and Steve Womack; and Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin.

In a Trump campaign news release Monday, Hutchinson said he was "delighted to chair the organizational efforts" for the nominee's campaign in Arkansas.

On Saturday, Hutchinson and other members of the Arkansas Leadership Team condemned Trump's lewd remarks without withdrawing their support for the nominee.

Hutchinson said in a statement that Trump's comments about women were "reprehensible" and "cannot be justified." However, Clinton also isn't perfect, he said.

"While he has acknowledged it as wrong and apologized, it is important that he demonstrate in the debate on Sunday and in the future that he understands and respects the value of women," Hutchinson said. "Both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump are imperfect as candidates and so the decision must be on the issues of national security, growing our economy and the direction of the Supreme Court."

Rutledge also said she could not condone or defend Trump's comments, while adding that she would continue to support the New York businessman.

"There is no perfect candidate," Rutledge said in a statement. "I will continue to support the only candidate in this race who will get federal regulations off the backs of American workers, keep our families safe from terrorists and appoint conservative judges and justices who will serve on the bench and shape the future of our country long past the term of the next president."

Both Hutchinson and Rutledge spoke at the Republican National Convention this summer, using their speeches to denounce Clinton.

Griffin said Saturday that he agreed wholeheartedly with Pence that the comments were "offensive and indefensible," and "as a husband and father, I would add unacceptable and disgusting."

However, he said, "Because I understand the importance of conservative appointments and because of my deep trust in Mike Pence, I am supporting the Republican ticket."

Hill said Trump's "lewd and sophomoric behavior some 11 years ago is completely inappropriate and offensive, and I am glad that he took responsibility and apologized swiftly."

"Because I strongly believe in the benefits to the country of conservative appointments that will support my priorities of new policies for faster economic growth, a return of the United States to our rightful role as leader in foreign policy, and an assured safe homeland, I support the Trump-Pence ticket," Hill said.

Mary Claire Burghoff, a spokesman for Womack, said he also "believes Trump's 2005 comments are disgusting and completely indefensible."

However, Womack "has said all along that this election must be a contest of ideas -- not personalities -- and most importantly, about protecting the conservative balance of the Supreme Court," she said in a statement.

Crawford, meanwhile, said "Disrespect for women in no way reflects the conservative values of the America I want to live in."

Calling Trump's remarks "beyond inappropriate," Crawford said Trump "will need to prove to America that he's changed since those comments were made."

On Saturday afternoon, Boozman in a statement added a vivid hypothetical to what he thought of the Republican nominee's comments.

"As a husband, father of three daughters, and grandfather of two precious little girls, if I ever heard anyone speak this way about them, they would be shopping for a new set of teeth," Boozman said.

He also called the presidential contest a "race to the bottom of humanity" and said he was "focused on saving the U.S. Senate and being there to fight for Arkansans in the conservative manner they expect."

Earlier Saturday, the Boozman's Democratic Senate challenger, Conner Eldridge, sent out a news release, asking how voters could expect the incumbent to stand up for them if he failed to denounce Trump.

"The people of Arkansas deserve an explanation from Sen. Boozman about why he continues to support a nominee that treats women with such disrespect and repulsive behavior," Eldridge said in the release.

Information for this article was contributed by Frank E. Lockwood and Michael R. Wickline of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

A Section on 10/09/2016