Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence will no longer attend a GOP event in Wisconsin with House Speaker Paul Ryan, following the resurfacing of a video that showed Donald Trump making vulgar comments about women.
Pence was scheduled to attend the event on Saturday in place of Trump but he has since canceled his appearance, according to NBC News.
Pence released a statement on Saturday rebuking Trump’s comments in the video.
“As a husband and father, I was offended by the words and actions described by Donald Trump in the 11-year-old video released yesterday,” the statement said. “I do not condone his remarks and cannot defend them. I am grateful that he has expressed remorse and apologized to the American people. We pray for his family and look forward to the opportunity he has to show what is in his heart when he goes before the nation tomorrow night.”
Trump is set to debate Democrat Hillary Clinton on Sunday.
Pence was reportedly “beside himself” when Trump’s comments were made public, according to an anonymous source to People Magazine. The magazine’s source added that Pence’s wife, Karen Pence, was “furious.”
Ryan made the decision Friday to cancel Trump’s appearance at the Wisconsin event, saying he was “sickened” by Trump’s remarks. “Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified,” Ryan said. “I hope Mr. Trump treats this situation with the seriousness it deserves and works to demonstrate to the country that he has greater respect for women than this clip suggests.”
In the 2005 video, Trump is seen making several crass comments about women, including about his attempt to have sex with a married woman and comments about other women who he said allow him to be sexually aggressive with them because he’s a “star.”
