Some Arizona GOP officials, candidates jump off Trump bandwagon

PHOENIX — John McCain has finally jumped off the Donald Trump train.

McCain said Saturday he finally had enough after hearing Trump’s sexist comments about women.

The state’s senior senator joins counterpart Jeff Flake, who said months ago he could not back Trump. And that was before the disclosure Friday of audio tapes of a 2005 conversation Trump had with Billy Bush, who at the time was hosting “Access Hollywood.”

The billionaire issued both a video statement and a tweet saying he still has support and does not intend to withdraw. But Flake, in his own tweet Saturday, said Trump is “wrong about his level of support.”

“He needs to withdraw from the race,” Flake wrote.

A parade of federal, state and local GOP officials and candidates has abandoned Trump in the wake of the release of the audio tapes.

But not everyone who was condemning Trump was ready to jump ship.

Gov. Doug Ducey added his voice Saturday to the chorus of Republicans blasting the candidates for his comments.

In a prepared statement, Ducey called Trump’s statements “insulting and terribly demeaning to women, and I disavow them 100 percent.

“They are completely unacceptable,” the governor said.

“Angela and I have three boys and we work hard every day to raise them the right way and to have the utmost respect for women,” Ducey said in his statement. “We should demand the same from our leaders, especially those who want to occupy the White House, the highest office in the land.”

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But the governor, who has endorsed Trump for president, stopped short of saying he would not vote for his party’s nominee. Gubernatorial press aide Daniel Scarpinato said there would be no further comment Saturday.

Also stopping short of saying she will not vote for Trump is Congresswoman Martha McSally, who is seeking another term. McSally had not previously endorsed Trump.

“Trump’s comments are disgusting,” she said in a statement. “Joking about sexual assault is unacceptable. I’m appalled.”

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said he remains a Trump supporter, and that an earlier tweet saying he won’t support the candidate was sent by a staffer without his consent.

Former Gov. Jan Brewer pronounced herself “repulsed by the detestable language” Trump used — but not so repulsed as to cause her to yank her support.

“There is too much at stake if we elect Hillary Clinton,” Brewer said in a Facebook post, saying the Democratic nominee’s actions “have literally put our national security at risk with her emails, illegal basement server and destruction of evidence.”

Brewer said Clinton implemented “pay-to-play,” trading access to her as secretary of state for donations to the Clinton Foundation and then, “At the end of the day, she just lies about all of this.”

Also sticking with Trump is Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, another early Trump backer.

“He’s got good policies,” said Arpaio, engaged in his own re-election campaign. “What happened 10-11 years ago his is his problem.”

“I’m not condoning what he said,” Arpaio said, adding that the statements Trump made are what “everybody does in bathrooms and locker rooms.”

Republican State Treasurer Jeff DeWit, who also is chief operating officer of Trump’s national campaign, did not return a call seeking comment.