Republicans across Virginia are struggling to figure out how to handle their relationship with Donald Trump in the wake of his hot mic moment on the Access Hollywood bus. So far, only one prominent Republican is calling for the candidate to step down.
Republican Congresswoman Barbara Comstock of McLean says Donald Trump should step aside as the presidential candidate. Robert Denton at Virginia Tech says other Republicans on the ballot this year are trying to navigate their own way back to Washington.
“Certainly their inside polling shows that while they definitely need to not approve of Trump, they don’t need to go all the way to diss him."
Don’t need to go all the way to diss him because Republicans up and down the ballot are worried about the politics of revenge.
“Republicans have to beware the consequence of angering Donald Trump."
That’s Stephen Farnsworth at the University of Mary Washington.
“Donald Trump, who doesn’t have a long history with the Republican Party, might be very inclined to encourage his supporters to turn on those Republicans who turn on him."
So far, Comstock is the only Republican to have turned on Trump in Virginia. But the chairwoman of the Virginia Democrats is now calling on Republicans in next year’s gubernatorial race to follow what she calls their moral compass and revoke their endorsements.
