A vulnerable Republican senator who has dissociated herself from Donald Trump walked back her characterization of the White House hopeful as a role model based on the admirable pursuit of running for president, creating a potentially awkward flash point in a toss-up contest.
Kelly Ayotte, completing her first term representing New Hampshire in the upper chamber, was pressed by a debate moderator Monday night to say if she would “tell a child to aspire to be like Donald Trump.” The inquiry was rooted in the presidential nominee’s candidacy for a job with high standards of character, but the incumbent Ayotte tried leaving Trump’s behavior out of her answer, saying she would encourage kids to dream so big as to run for president someday.
The questioner followed up, leading to the key point of Ayotte’s response:
Before the clock struck midnight, Ayotte released a statement saying she “misspoke” and grouping Trump with Hillary Clinton.
“I misspoke tonight. While I would hope all of our children would aspire to be president, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have set a good example and I wouldn’t hold up either of them as role models for my kids,” said Ayotte, who has not endorsed Trump for president.
But the comment was inevitably going to have a life beyond the debate. The campaign of Ayotte’s opponent, Governor Maggie Hassan, posted an attack ad to the web early Tuesday juxtaposing the incumbent’s words with some of Trump’s past rhetoric about women.
Hassan was not asked for her opinion of Clinton as role model. (A designation that would draw its own scrutiny, given the contents of Andrew Ferguson’s and Stephen F. Hayes’s recent stories about Clinton’s past personal and professional behavior.)
Ayotte has run significantly ahead of Trump in general election polling. In the Real Clear Politics average, she holds a 1.6 percentage point advantage over Hassan, whereas Trump trails Clinton by six. In the most recent survey of both races, concluded September 29, 61 percent of likely voters had a negative opinion of Trump, compared to just 32 percent with a positive view.
The -29-percentage point spread contrasts with Ayotte’s, which is +2, and Hassan’s, which is +11.
