LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- A growing number of Republicans -- including Republican members of the U.S. Senate and Congress -- pulled their support of Donald Trump on Saturday, with some calling for Trump to quit the race just weeks before the Nov. 8 election.

Meanwhile, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman has condemned Trump's statements, but avoided saying whether he will continue to endorse Trump. It remains unresolved whether he thinks Trump's comments in a 2005 video, in which he bragged that his power and fame allowed him to grope women with impunity, disqualify Trump from the presidency.

On Saturday, Portman's Democratic opponent, former Gov. Ted Strickland, called Portman a "coward" for not pulling his support. He said Portman's silence makes him complicit in Trump's behavior.

"Unlike a lot of other Republicans including [Ohio Gov.] John Kasich, who have the moral courage to disassociate themselves from Donald Trump, Rob Portman doesn't have the courage to do it," Strickland told reporters during a campaign stop in Lakewood. "And that says to me that Rob Portman is more concerned with his own political survival than he is about what's right and best for America. And that's shameful."

(UPDATE: Oct. 8, 10:48 p.m: Portman rescinded his endorsement late Saturday.)

Portman, who has maintained distance from Trump despite endorsing him, on Friday issued a statement calling Trump's comments "offensive and wrong" and saying Trump was "right to apologize." (At that time, Trump had only apologized "if anyone was offended." Trump later apologized in a web video released later in the night.)

As I said earlier tonight, his comments were offensive and wrong. -RP — Rob Portman (@robportman) October 8, 2016

But Portman has avoided commenting further, and a campaign spokeswoman didn't return multiple messages on Saturday. Portman's official Twitter account only showed Portman speaking to volunteers -- with Trump campaign signs obscured, but visible in the background -- in Southwest Ohio.

"I've led the fight to stop this heroin & prescription drug epidemic, & I've worked to end human trafficking." pic.twitter.com/f7rldNtWgJ — Rob Portman (@robportman) October 8, 2016

Meanwhile, four other Republican senate candidates have pulled their support for Trump -- Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and U.S. Rep. Joe Heck, who is running for a senate seat in Nevada -- as have a number of Republicans running for congressional seats. Some have even called for him to step aside in favor of his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

And, Kasich on Saturday upped his criticism of Trump, saying the developments of the last 24 hours have justified his refusal to endorse Trump.

"The actions of the last day are disgusting, but that's not why I reached this decision, it has been an accumulation of his words and actions that many have been warning about," Kasich said in a statement emailed to reporters. "I will not vote for a nominee who has behaved in a manner that reflects so poorly on our country. Our country deserves better."

In the 2005 video, reported early Friday evening by the Washington Post, Trump is heard describing attempts to have sex with a married woman. He also brags about women letting him kiss them and grab their genitals because he is famous.

"When you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything," Trump says in video. He adds seconds later: "Grab them by the p----. You can do anything." He said of his impulse to kiss beautiful women: "I don't even wait."

Ohio Republican Chairman Matt Borges on Saturday called Trump's comments "vile." He said he has counseled elected officials that it's up to them whether they will continue to support Trump. He declined to say what advice he has given to Portman or others.

"I've tried to make sure they understand there's no repercussion from the party if they decide to follow their conscience, and that's what folks need to sort through," Borges said.

He added: "Obviously we're trying to give folks all the information they need to know. There are questions as to whether or not [Trump] can even drop out at this time and what that process would be, so we're just trying to help people get an understanding of where they need to be."

It's unclear whether Trump's statements will block him from winning Ohio, and if his continued presence in the campaign season will have an impact further down the ticket.

Ohio voters are poised to comfortably re-elect Portman to a second six-year term, polling suggests, and broadly view Portman as a distinct political entity from the more divisive Trump. But recent polls suggest momentum switching in favor of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who nonetheless remains unpopular with most Ohio voters.

Borges said it was too soon to determine if Trump's video would cause him to lose Ohio, but jokingly compared the potential political fallout to a nuclear bomb.

"There's no worse way to be spending my Saturday 30 days from an election that (we) absolutely should have won this year than to be spending 100 percent of my time on the phone or on emails or answering questions or [granting interviews] on a topic like this that isn't helping us advance the ball," Borges said.

Borges said Trump's comments have upped the stakes for the upcoming Sunday night debate against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, the former first lady, senator and secretary of state.

"One thing [Trump] said is the campaign has changed him as a person," Borges said. "He's got 90 minutes as a person to convince America that's true."

In a videotaped midnight apology, Trump declared "I was wrong and I apologize" after being caught on tape vulgarly bragging about aggressively groping women in 2005. He also defiantly dismissed the revelations as "nothing more than a distraction" from a decade ago and signaled he would press his presidential campaign by arguing that rival Hillary Clinton has committed greater sins against women.

"I've said some foolish things," Trump said in a video posted on his Facebook page early Saturday. "But there's a big difference between the words and actions of other people. Bill Clinton has actually abused women and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims."

"Certainly has been an interesting 24 hours!" he tweeted later in the day. Trump later told the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post on Saturday that he will remain in the race.

Cleveland.com reporter Jeremy Pelzer contributed, and information from the Associated Press was used in this article

