A solid majority of Republican officials, including all Republican leaders in Congress, still back Donald Trump. But dozens of Republicans are trying to publicly distance themselves from their nominee by withdrawing various endorsements. Why now?
Anyone who bails or rushes to condemn him now implicitly accepted everything that’s come before — his saying Mexicans are rapists, that Megyn Kelly must have been menstruating when she aggressively questioned him at an early primary debate, that Muslims should be banned, that he didn’t know enough about David Duke to condemn the former Ku Klux Klan wizard, that women should be punished for having abortions, all while welcoming the support of Nazis and white nationalists, mocking a reporter for his disabled arm, insisting a judge with Latino heritage couldn’t rule fairly against him, smearing Khizr and Ghazala Khan, suggesting Hillary Clinton be shot, keeping up his birtherism softshoe and encouraging Russian hackers to go after his opponent’s files.
Every candidate running on a Republican ballot line knows who they nominated, and they loved him until now. Suddenly they’re shocked, shocked, to discover their guy is a creep. Be honest now: is anyone, of any party, surprised by this latest atrocity?
