Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pauses during a meeting with members of the National Border Patrol Council at Trump Tower, Friday. (Photo from Associated Press)
By Gayla Cawley
Republican leaders across the country have chastised their party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump, after a decade-old video surfaced over the weekend depicting him making lewd comments about women. Locally, the feeling among GOP officials is the same.
“As a female and as a mother, I found his comments disturbing,” said Amy Carnevale, a Marblehead resident who serves on the Republican State Committee. “That being said, I continue to support the public policies advocated by Donald Trump. I continue to support his candidacy.”
Carnevale was a delegate for Trump at the Republican National Convention, where he was selected as the party’s nominee in July.
In the 2005 video obtained by the Washington Post, Trump can be heard talking with Billy Bush, the then-host of Access Hollywood, about how he made a move on a married woman, using vulgar language. He also brags about his ability to force himself on women sexually, adding that he can grab them by the genitals, after saying he’s popping a breath mint in case he starts kissing an actress waiting for him outside the bus he’s on.
“When you’re a star, they let you do it,” Trump said in the video.
For the second presidential debate on Sunday, Carnevale said she would like to see him point out the weaknesses of Clinton, such as her trustworthiness and decision making while she served as secretary of state. When it comes down to a choice between Trump and Clinton on Nov. 8, she said voters are more likely to side with his policy.
State Rep. Donald Wong (R-Saugus) said Trump’s comments took him by surprise.
“I was very disheartened by what he had to say because I have four generations of women that I represent, my mother, wife, one daughter and four granddaughters,” said State Rep. Donald Wong (R-Saugus).
Wong said he would have liked to see a better campaign on both sides, rather than witnessing Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton constantly taking shots at one another. He would like to see both candidates work on what they’re going to do for the country and talk about what they would be bringing to the table.
Jennifer Migliore, a Democrat running against Wong for state representative, said “there is no place for defaming, derogatory remarks aimed towards women.”
Alexander “Sandy” Tennant, a Swampscott resident and former executive director of the MassGOP, said the words Trump used were terrible, but he found it amazing that the media is focusing on that and saying nothing about former President Bill Clinton’s history of sexual abuse. He said Clinton was charged with doing inappropriate things to women and Hillary Clinton, instead of defending them, attacked those women.
“I thought the comments were very inappropriate, but they were made 11 years ago,” Tennant said.
No woman should be talked about that way, Tennant said, but it’s one thing to talk about it and another thing to do those acts, he added, alluding to the former president.
At Sunday’s debate, Tennant said he was hoping for an apology from Trump. In the wake of the comments, some Republican elected officials across the country have withdrawn their support for Trump, with others going further to urge that he drop out of the race.
“Absolutely not,” said Tennant when asked if Trump should drop out. “That would be basically handing over the election to Hillary Clinton.”
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley.