“I cannot vote for Donald Trump based on what he has said and done and the actions he talked about in those tapes. And I want my daughter to know that," Ayotte said. | AP Photo Defending her Trump reversal, Ayotte says: 'He’s talking about assault’

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican in a tight battle for reelection, said Sunday that she reversed her earlier plans to vote for Donald Trump because an explosive recording published on Friday showed her party’s standard-bearer “talking about assault of women.”

“I’ve disagreed and denounced Donald Trump on many issues and called him out,” Ayotte told reporters in Manchester. “But the tapes that were released on Friday, the statements talked about in those tapes and the action talked about in those tapes, are fundamentally different. He’s talking about assault of women.”


Ayotte had previously walked a fine line between offering tepid support for Trump while trying to distance herself from the nominee and his history of making inflammatory statements about women and immigrants. She had said she would vote for him, but was not formally endorsing him for president, and made headlines last week when she said at a debate that Trump was a good role model for children, before walking it back.

Ayotte’s stance changed on Saturday, the day after The Washington Post published audio and video footage from 2005 that showed Trump making a series of sexually aggressive and demeaning comments about women, bragging that he could kiss them and grab at their genitals because he’s “a star.” Along with dozens of other Republicans who deserted their nominee as his campaign spiraled into panic, Ayotte said she could no longer vote for him, or Hillary Clinton, and planned instead to write in the name of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Trump’s running mate.

On Sunday, Ayotte described her change in position as influenced by her daughter.

“I thought about years from now, when my daughter Kate is old enough to know what is in those tapes and to understand what he is talking about, I want her to know where I stood,” Ayotte said. “I cannot vote for Donald Trump based on what he has said and done and the actions he talked about in those tapes. And I want my daughter to know that.”

“That is more important to me than winning any election,” she added.

At the Sunday news conference, Ayotte also faced questions about the sincerity of her change of heart, given that her initial statement responding to the Trump video, released on Friday evening, did not revoke her support for him. Ayotte’s opponent in the Senate race, Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, has accused her of acting purely out of political self-interest.

Responding to a reporter’s question about that charge, Ayotte responded that “I call things like I see them” and repeated her earlier rationale. Then she launched into a critique of Hassan for not standing up to what she identified as Clinton’s mistakes — her use of a private email server as secretary of state and support of the Iran nuclear deal.

“I will call it like I see it, no matter who is in that Oval Office and disagree with them when I think they’re going in the wrong direction on behalf of the people of New Hampshire, and obviously where I can work with them on behalf of the people of New Hampshire,” Ayotte said.