Ever since the Washington Post published a video that shows Donald Trump talking about using his wealth and power to sexually assault women, Republicans have been ditching the Trump Train in droves.
The list of GOP senators, congressmen, and governors who have said they will
no longer support their party's nominee for president has now grown to 32. It includes such high-profile conservatives as Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Senator John McCain of Arizona, and Mike Lee of Utah, who has actually called on Trump to drop out.
The situation is so bad that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, the highest ranking Republican in the country,
said earlier today that he's no longer going to defend Trump and will instead focus on trying save the GOP congressional majority.
Politically, of course, this all makes a lot of sense.
What Trump said on that tape from 2005 is beyond the pale, even by his standards, and if Republicans want to salvage something from the radioactive dumpster fire that this campaign has become, they probably have no choice but to disavow him.
But their crocodile tears shouldn't kid anyone.
The Republican crisis of conscience about Donald Trump is a sham, and all the disavowals in the world won't change the fact that conservatives were perfectly fine with him insulting every group possible - until he took on white women.
As
Hillary Clinton pointed out at last night's debate, Trump has been denigrating different groups of people since day one of his campaign. This is just who he is, and it's what his campaign is all about.
It was smart of Hillary to point this out last night, because Republicans have had their chances to renounce Donald Trump before, and they've sat by and done nothing.
To paraphrase Pastor Niemoller's famous poem about the Holocaust, first Trump came for the Mexicans, but Republicans said nothing.
Then Trump came for the Muslims, and they said nothing.
Then he came for the disabled, and still they said nothing.
Then he came for the POWs, and still they said nothing.
Then he came for African-Americans, and again they said nothing.
Sure, some Republicans in swing states backed away from their party's nominee or called him out after one of his trademark smears, but there was no mass defection from his campaign, not until now, not until he bragged about raping attractive, white women on a tape released one month before Election Day.
So why do Republicans suddenly care that Donald Trump is a racist, a bigot, and a sexist?
Why did it take a tape from 2005 to change their minds about his campaign?
Where were they when he called Mexicans rapists?
Where were all the overdramatic statements of conservative conscience when Trump accused American Muslims of being part of some sinister fifth column?
The ugly truth is that Republicans have, until this point, been totally fine with everything Trump has said and done throughout his campaign because they thought he could win.
