The fallout in support for GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump following the controversial leaked tape from 2005 was as quick as it was painful. No fewer than 24 Republican governors and congressmen who’d previously endorsed Trump withdrew their support, and that’s in addition to the Republicans who refused to support him in the first place. The most notable person who withdrew support has been House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has canceled all future events he’d planned with Trump.
While Republican leaders were leaving in droves, the voters they’re supposed to represent appear to want them to do otherwise. Seventy-four percent of Republicans believe that Republican leaders should continue backing Trump, even in the wake of the tape scandal.
As Republican politicians were pulling support, a rumor (which is a generous term for false news stories) even spread that the RNC would be pulling its support and funding from Trump. That story was false.
Now, as Politico just reported, RNC chairman Reince Priebus has just announced definitively that the organization is standing by Trump.
In an emergency call with members of the Republican National Committee, Chairman Reince Priebus declared that the party remained firmly behind Donald Trump, despite the tape of his lewd remarks about groping and making advances on married women.
“Over the last 24 to 48 hours there have been a lot of false rumors that we didn’t want to engage in,” Priebus told the 168 members of the RNC, many of whom have also stood behind Trump, according to a person on the call. “Nothing has changed in terms of our support for the nominee.”
Priebus told them that Trump had issued a “heartfelt” apology and that “I think the issue was taken care of at the debate.” Three people on the call verified Priebus’ remarks. The Priebus call came hours after Speaker Paul Ryan held a conference call of his own for jittery House Republicans and declared that he would no longer defend Trump on the campaign trail, or ever campaign with him.
The announcement represented an extraordinary break as the highest-ranking elected Republican in America said he was no longer standing with the Republican nominee. The Priebus call itself was brief, lasting only 14 minutes, as he said the party remained “ahead of budget” and dismissed talk of dumping Trump.
Think about this for a second: Congressional Republicans are dumping Trump for things he’s said, while the Democrat establishment (and its media) is sticking with Hillary despite the horrible — even criminal — things she’s done. It should be clear who has the moral high ground through all of this…
Source: Allen West
