October 8, 2016

A GOP Senate Candidate Just Got Angrily Booed for Denouncing Trump

Joe Heck called for Donald Trump to step aside. It didn’t go well.

Joe Heck photo: David Becker/AP; Screenshot: CNN

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The Republican running for US Senate from Nevada was angrily booed at his own campaign rally today when he told the crowd that he could no longer support Donald Trump and that the GOP nominee should drop out of the race.

Heck was reacting to the 2005 video published Friday by the Washington Post, in which Trump bragged that his fame enabled him to “do anything” to women. “Grab them by the pussy,” he said in the video. “You can do anything.”

At the rally, Heck—a congressman locked in a tight race to fill Harry Reid’s seat in the Senate—said, “I can no longer look past the pattern of behavior and comments that have been made by Donald Trump. Therefore I cannot in good conscious continue to support Donald Trump. Nor can I vote for Hillary Clinton.” That drew a mix of applause and jeers.

Moments later, when Heck said that Republicans should “formally ask Mr. Trump to step down” from the ticket, the crowd erupted in loud boos.

Heck is one of several prominent GOP politicians to un-endorse Trump in the wake of Friday’s revelations. Others include New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, and Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz.

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We can afford to take our time because we don’t report to oligarchs or corporations. We report to you, and for you.

And the stakes are high. Democracy is on the defense. We’ve been exposing corruption and scandal for five decades, and this is a pivotal moment in our country’s history. Will democracy prevail? We won’t wait for time to tell—independent journalism is essential for democracy, and we’ll keep doing our part to amplify the free press.

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