U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan on Friday joined other Republican leaders in their condemnation of lewd comments about women made by the party's presidential nominee Donald Trump, and said Trump would not be attending a planned joint event for Saturday in Wisconsin.
The event had been expected as Ryan's first joint appearance with Trump in a bid to show the party's unity in a key battleground state one day ahead of Sunday night's second presidential debate. '
"I am sickened by what I heard today. Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified," Ryan said in a statement.
"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 a leaked audio clip recorded in 2005, Trump made lewd remarks about an unidentified married woman he hoped to have sex with, boasted about how easy it is to attract women with his celebrity status and even talked about groping women.
When you're a star, women let you do anything, he was recorded.
The New York billionaire later apologized for the "locker room banter" in the audio, but claimed that his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, "has said far worse to me on the golf course -- not even close."
However, Trump's bid to shift the focus seems to have failed as the chair of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, together with a number of other influential Republican lawmakers, released statements blasting the billionaire. Some of them even urged Trump to quit the presidential race.
"No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. Ever," Priebus said in a statement.
Trump is "a malignant clown" that is "unfit to be president of the United States," said Republican Senator Mark Kirk.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the top-ranking Republican woman in the House of Representatives, said that Trump's comments of that nature have "no place in public or private conversations."
During the first presidential debate last month, Trump was attacked by Hillary Clinton for his comments about a Miss Universe winner whom he called "Miss Piggy" after she gained weight. Trump said earlier this week that some of his past comments about women were for purposes of "entertainment."
An NBC News/Survey Monkey poll taken after the debate showed 27 percent of likely female voters said the debate made them think worse of Trump. About 30 percent said their opinion of Clinton has improved.
