Stephen Gruber-Miller

sgrubermil@press-citizen.com

GOP congressional hopeful Christopher Peters said Tuesday that he won't support Republican nominee Donald Trump for the presidency.

Peters, a doctor from Coralville, is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack in Iowa's second district. In a statement on his website Monday, Peters said he couldn't support Trump or Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

In refusing to support Trump, whom Peters had not previously endorsed, he cited comments Trump made in a 2005 recording caught on a live microphone claiming that he had attempted to sleep with a married woman and suggesting his celebrity status allowed him to "grab" women’s genitalia. The remarks surfaced on Friday in a story in the Washington Post.

"Donald Trump’s remarks about women that surfaced last week — along with his well-documented pattern of disparaging remarks about women, minorities, and other groups — demonstrate disturbing character deficiencies," Peters said in the statement. "My wife and I have three teenage sons, and if I ever learned that any of them grew up to be men who conduct themselves like Trump, I would be deeply disappointed."

Iowa Republicans denounce Trump but do not rescind support

But Peters made clear that his differences with Trump extend beyond temperament, saying Trump has demonstrated a poor grasp of constitutionalism, civil rights, the rule of law, diplomacy and economics.

"I should have spoken out against him much earlier, and I regret that I failed to do so," he said in the statement.

Peters said he also could not support Clinton, explaining that he believes her to be "insincere, manipulative and untrustworthy."

"Over her career, Clinton has consistently supported economic policies that favor the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Americans, and she’s been a proponent of every American military intervention in recent history," Peters said in the statement.

Leading Republicans in Iowa, including Gov. Terry Branstad and senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, stood by Trump over the weekend and reaffirmed their support for his candidacy. Peters said he doesn't think it's his role to tell them what to do.

"I didn’t talk to them regarding (his comments) when I made my decision. I met with my team and contacted some advisers about how I went about it, but that decision is ultimately each candidate’s. It’s not my prerogative," he said.

Peters said presidential politics dominate too much of the country's political discourse, and that if he is elected, he will work to make progress on issues important to Iowans, including lowering barriers to third-party candidates, reducing the influence of money in politics and looking at changes to the voting system. He said he's not sure whether he'll support anyone in the election.

"I don’t know how I’m going to vote and I don’t know if I’m going to vote. I’ll decide in 29 days," he said.

Loebsack, who has endorsed Clinton, responded to Peters' statement via email:

"I am glad Dr. Peters has finally decided to stand up to Trump's disgusting remarks and actions," he said. "After over a year of campaigning on banning Muslims, attacking Gold Star families, insulting women and minorities, it is well past time for all Americans to stand up to his divisive and hateful rhetoric."

Reach Stephen Gruber-Miller at 319-887-5407 or sgrubermil@press-citizen.com. Follow him at @sgrubermiller.