Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, announced Wednesday evening that he would vote for Donald Trump, a move that comes not long after the congressman withdrew his endorsement of the GOP nominee.
“I will not defend or endorse @realDonaldTrump, but I am voting for him. HRC is that bad. HRC is bad for the USA,” the House Oversight Committee chairman said on social media.
I will not defend or endorse @realDonaldTrump, but I am voting for him. HRC is that bad. HRC is bad for the USA.
— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) October 27, 2016
Earlier this year, after several women had come forward to allege that they had been touched inappropriately by Trump, the Utah congressman told media he could no longer support the Republican candidate for president.
“I’m out. I can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president. It is some of the most abhorrent and offensive comments that you can possibly imagine,” Chaffetz told Utah’s Fox 13 News.
Later, in a phone interview with CNN, the congressman also criticized Trump’s attempt to downplay the content of a newly surfaced video from 2005 in which the businessman bragged about sexually accosting women.
Trump has dismissed the remarks in the video as “locker room banter.”
“I have to tell you, I played college football, and place kicker, I’ve been in a lot of locker rooms. This is not just locker room talk,” Chaffetz said. “This was offensive, and it was absolutely totally wrong, and I’m not going to endorse them. I’m not going to vote for Hillary Clinton.
The congressman added, “I can’t tell the good people of Utah, that I endorse a person who acts like this.”
Voters in Utah have struggled with Trump’s candidacy, so much so that independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin, who is a Mormon, is actually running a competitive campaign in the Beehive State.
