@PatriciaMazzei
Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen urged Donald Trump on Saturday to withdraw as her party's presidential nominee, joining a growing number of GOP members of Congress asking for his resignation.
"Trump doesn't represent our nation. I was not with Trump before and I'm not with him now. Trump must withdraw," Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement. "In April, before Trump even clinched the nomination, I announced I could not and would not support Donald Trump in this election. I'm now calling on Donald Trump to drop out of the race for the good of our nation."
Ros-Lehtinen, a veteran lawmaker, first backed Jeb Bush and then Marco Rubio for president. After both dropped out, she said she wouldn't vote for Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton, saying she'd write-in Bush's name first.
On Friday, after The Washington Post broke the news about a 2005 recording in which Trump bragged about making sexual advances at women, Ros-Lethinen denounced Trump's comments.
As a woman, mother & grandmother, I categorically find that there are no excuses for Trump's degrading and obscene characterization of women
— Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (@RosLehtinenCamp) October 8, 2016
She went a step further Saturday afternoon, after her opponent, first-time Democratic candidate Scott Fuhrman, said in a statement that "anything short of a complete rejection of [Trump's] candidacy and support of Secretary Clinton can only be seen as an endorsement of him and his behavior."
"When even staunch Republicans are outright rejecting his candidacy, no one who claims to be moderate and bipartisan has any excuse to again stand idle in the face of such ugliness," he said.
Ros-Lehtinen represents the 27th congressional district, which now leans Democratic, though she has not been considered among the most vulnerable Republicans in Congress this year.
Photo credit: Hector Gabino, el Nuevo Herald
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