Democrats quickly seized on crude comments Donald Trump made about women in 2005, hoping that revelations of him talking about being able to do “anything” to women and trying to have sex with a married woman would be the death blow of his candidacy.

While Trump has been hammered for months over his rhetoric about Latinos, women and Muslims, Democrats believe the hot mic remarks, first reported by The Washington Post, are the most damaging yet.


“Donald Trump’s comments and his actions are beyond vile and disgusting,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in an emailed statement. “We have to send a message this November to our daughters and our sons that Donald Trump’s values are not the values of our nation.”

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who's been campaigning for Democratic Senate candidates, said in an emailed statement that Trump's comments were not "surprising coming from a man who has called women 'pigs.'"

"This makes it even more clear that we only have one candidate who is fit to be president, and her name is Hillary Clinton," Stabenow said.

Democrats sensed an opportunity to tarnish all Republicans who've endorsed Trump if they continue to stand behind the Republican nominee. Many GOP Senate candidates released statements through press aides or on Twitter as of Friday evening — including several who have been highly critical of Trump in the past — though other Senate Republicans stayed silent.

That left Democrats to go on the offensive and demand that Republicans break with their nominee — a tough proposition given how tight many Senate races are, but not unthinkable given the explosiveness of Trump's comments. Alienating Trump supporters in October could make it impossible for Republicans to win reelection, but Democrats were itching to make the GOP own its Trump endorsements through what marks the toughest stretch of his controversy-scarred campaign for president.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) did not weigh in until a handful of GOP senators issued statements that condemned Trump's comments but did not, as expected, withdraw support of the Republican standard bearer. Though Reid called the GOP nominee's 2005 recorded remarks "indefensible," the outgoing Democratic leader trained his fire on GOP leaders in Congress and the Republicans that Democrats are trying to unseat.

“For the good of the country, I hope that my Republican colleagues do not try to circle the wagons around a man who brags about sexually assaulting women. Never in history has a party nominated someone more unfit to be president," Reid said in a lengthy statement excoriating congressional Republicans. "There is still time for Republicans to acknowledge their mistake and salvage their dignity. They can do so by finally deciding to put the good of our country first.”

Earlier Friday evening, Democratic Senate candidates had gone on the attack — one by one.

“These vile comments from Donald Trump cannot be excused,” said New Hampshire Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, who is facing Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte. The New Hampshire senator has said she would support but not endorse Trump, and this week said she would consider him a role model but walked back that assessment hours later.

In a statement, Ayotte responded to the Trump comments by calling them "totally inappropriate and offensive."

Indiana Senate hopeful Evan Bayh is the rare Democratic candidate who's largely stayed away from Trump-fueled attacks; he is running in a red state that Trump is likely to win in November. But even Bayh felt compelled to condemn Trump's lewd remarks and tether his Republican opponent, Rep. Todd Young, to the GOP nominee.

"Republicans and Democrats alike can agree that the attitude towards women on display in this recording is deeply disturbing and has no place in our society," Bayh said in a statement Friday. "This isn't politics. It's basic decency. But this is someone my opponent fully supports."

Young said in a statement that "Donald Trump's terrible comments were beyond offensive."

Katie McGinty, who is running against Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), called Trump’s talk about women some of the “most appalling and despicable I’ve ever heard.”

"The only thing worse than Donald Trump's comments are the people who should be standing up to him but instead do nothing. Pat Toomey likes to say he'll stand up to Donald Trump, but every time something like this happens, he runs and hides,” McGinty said.

Toomey has not endorsed Trump for president. His campaign tweeted a statement from the senator on Friday evening saying that "Trump's comments were outrageous and unacceptable."





Hillary Clinton called Trump’s remarks “horrific” and said, “We cannot allow this man to be president.” On the campaign trail, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine, a senator from Virginia, said Trump’s 2005 remarks make him “sick to my stomach.”

“I’m sad to say that I’m not surprised. I should be. I should be surprised and shocked,” Kaine told reporters, according to NBC. “I’m sad to say that I’m not.”

It is notable that many elected officials in both parties either ignored requests for comment or declined to respond to Trump. For some Democrats, aides said, it was more damaging for the Trump audio to just hang out there rather than attempting to put their own spin on Trump’s words.

