Coffman: 'Trump Should Step Aside'
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)- Republican Rep. Mike Coffman has broken from his party's ranks and has said that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump should "step aside."
Coffman released this statement on Friday evening: "For the good of the country, and to give the Republicans a chance of defeating Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump should step aside. His defeat at this point seems almost certain. And four years of Hillary Clinton is not what is best for this country. Mr. Trump should put the country first and do the right thing."
This comes hours after audio of Trump making lewd comments about women made headlines.
Trump has dismissed what is being called a lewd conversation recorded in 2005 in which he bragged about grabbing, kissing and trying to have sex with women, as "locker room banter."
Several hours later, Trump issued a video where he stated, "I was wrong and I apologize."
The video was obtained by The Washington Post and shows Trump talking with Access Hollywood's Billy Bush on a bus as it pulled into a studio lot where Trump was scheduled to appear on a soap opera.
"You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful -- I just start kissing them," Trump can be heard saying.
"It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait," Trump says.
"And when you're a star they let you do it," he says. "You can do anything."
"Grab them by the p****," Trump says. "You can do anything."
Earlier on Friday, Coffman posted a tweet calling Trump's comments "deeply offensive and disgusting."
#copolitics #co06 pic.twitter.com/iFjbN393K9
— Mike Coffman (@coffmanforco) October 8, 2016
Coffman's campaign also clarified that the congressman will not be voting for Trump in the presidential election but did not say who he would vote for.
Coffman isn't the only congressman to distance himself from the Republican presidential nominee.
Amid the furor from Republicans and Democrats over Trump's remarks, House Speaker Paul Ryan issued a statement Friday saying he was "sickened" by them and that Trump wouldn't be coming to an annual event in Ryan's home state of Wisconsin on Saturday. A short time later, Trump announced that his running mate, Mike Pence, would be going in his place while he spent the day preparing for Sunday night's debate.