Chamber of Commerce official: Trump should step down

by Ben Kamisar - 10/07/16 11:03 PM ET

A top official at the Chamber of Commerce, the group that’s a reliable supporter of the GOP and its candidates, is calling on Donald Trump to resign and cede the nomination to Mike Pence in light of his lewd comments leaked Friday.

“There is no GOP nominee for President in 2016. Fundamentally offensive & unqualified,” Rob Engstrom, the national political director and senior vice president at the Chamber, tweeted late Friday night.

“Trump should step down immediately tonight, yielding to Governor Pence as the GOP Nominee.”

Trump should step down immediately tonight, yielding to Governor Pence as the GOP Nominee.

— Rob Engstrom (@RobEngstrom) October 8, 2016

{mosads}Republicans have broadly condemned Trump since the release of 2005 audio from a hot mic while appearing on NBC’s “Access Hollywood.”

During the audio, released by The Washington Post, Trump said that women let you “do anything” if you are “a star.” He goes on to talk about trying to seduce a married woman and speaks lewdly about pursuing other women.

“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything,” he said in the audio.

“Grab them by the p—-,” Trump says. “You can do anything.”

Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus, House Speaker Paul Ryan and a slew of Republican lawmakers bashed Trump for the comments, and Ryan said Trump would no longer appear at their planned joint event in Wisconsin on Saturday.

If Trump was to step down, the RNC would choose his replacement with a meeting of the 168 committee-members, three from each state and territory.

Tags Chamber of Commerce Donald Trump Mike Pence Paul Ryan