COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio Gov. John Kasich took to Twitter Friday night to join a chorus of prominent Republicans rebuking presidential nominee Donald Trump for crude comments he made about women in 2005.
“Make no mistake(,) the comments were wrong and offensive,” tweeted Kasich, a one-time presidential hopeful who has refused to endorse his party’s nominee. "They are indefensible."
In the 2005 audio recording, which was released Friday by The Washington Post, Trump related a story of a failed attempt to seduce a married woman and bragged that his fame allowed him to become physical with women without asking for consent.
“I’m automatically attracted to beautiful -- I just start kissing them," Trump told television host Billy Bush in the recording. “Just kiss. I don’t even wait. When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. … Grab them by the p---y. You can do anything."
Trump was newly married to his current wife, Melania Trump, at the time the conversation took place.
Although Kasich limited his comments on the incident to one tweet, Kasich campaign strategist John Weaver had more to say. He criticized both Trump and the Republicans who have endorsed him despite condemning his comments and stances.
Condemning Trump's comments while still endorsing, supporting him is outrageous. #TwoPaths are available. Choose the right one.
— John Weaver (@JWGOP) October 8, 2016
The ticket should resign & be replaced with people with clean hands. Time to heal this country & get about enacting real reform for USA.
— John Weaver (@JWGOP) October 8, 2016
“I am sickened by what I heard today,” said Republican speaker of the house Paul Ryan, who uninvited Trump from a Saturday campaign event in light of the recording. “Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified.”
Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus also rebuked the candidate in a statement.
"No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner," Priebus said. "Ever."
Both Priebus and Ryan have publicly endorsed Trump’s candidacy.
