Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
WASHINGTON ― Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) called for Donald Trump to step down as the Republican presidential nominee on Saturday ― but she’s still going to vote for him, she said Tuesday.
“Like most Nebraskans, I am fully committed to defeating Hillary Clinton,” she said on Lincoln, Nebraska, radio station KLIN, referring to the Democratic presidential nominee. “I support the Republican ticket and I plan to vote for Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence on Nov. 8.”
It was a remarkably swift turnaround for the senator, who was one of many high-profile Republicans to drop their support, at least seemingly, after The Washington Post published 2005 video footage of Trump bragging about using his celebrity status to kiss and grope women without their consent.
Trump remained steadfast that he would not quit the race. So now, Fischer, who is not up for re-election this year, seems to be denying that she ever unendorsed him.
“I put out a statement on Friday and it was with regard to Mr. Trump’s comments,” Fischer said on KLIN. “I felt they were disgusting. I felt they were unacceptable. But, I never said I was not voting for our Republican ticket.”
But it’s not difficult to see why people got the impression that she was opposing Trump, when she said he should not be running for president at all.
The comments made by Mr. Trump were disgusting and totally unacceptable under any circumstance. (1/2)
— Deb Fischer (@DebFischerNE) October 8, 2016
It would be wise for him to step aside and allow Mike Pence to serve as our party’s nominee. (2/2)
— Deb Fischer (@DebFischerNE) October 8, 2016
Fischer’s chief of staff, Joe Hack, reiterated in a statement that she hadn’t technically said she would not vote for Trump.
“On Friday the senator expressed her disgust at Mr. Trump’s comments and suggested he step aside. He did not,” Hack said. “She did not say in her statement that she was not voting for the ticket, nor did she say [she] was writing anyone in. Indeed, she plans to vote for the Republican ticket on November 8, which has been her consistent position.”
Fischer initially announced her support for Trump in May, after meeting with him on Capitol Hill.
“I’ve endorsed the nominee ― and he will be the nominee,” she said at the time, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
Trump is leading Clinton significantly in Nebraska in surveys ― HuffPost Pollster’s average of the latest polling shows him at about 51 percent support, while Clinton has about 35 percent support.
Republican women in Congress have dropped their support for Trump at quicker rates than Republican men have after the release of Trump’s 2005 comments, according to FiveThirtyEight. Of the six Republican senators who are women, two, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst and Fischer, currently say they will support Trump.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced in August that she would not vote for Trump, while Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said he should step down over the weekend.
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.