RNC's Bruce Ash of Tucson maintains Trump support

The Republican National Committee is in “full coordination” with Donald Trump despite many media reports stating the opposite, says Bruce Ash, a committee member from Tucson.

“Whatever you’ve been reading in Politico, The Hill or the Washington Post it is a bunch of bull ...,” Ash said Monday.

He said neither the RNC nor vice presidential candidate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence need to be in a position to apologize for what Trump said in a 2005 conversation while riding in a bus to a soap opera taping. Trump’s vulgar comments about women in it sparked a wave of criticism after it was leaked Friday.

Ash went on to say speculation that Pence would drop out of the race was made by people distant from the campaign. “The vice president was never serious about leaving the nomination, that is a bunch of bull, too,” Ash said. (See story, Page A7.)

On Saturday, Sen. John McCain joined several other prominent Republicans in withdrawing support from Trump.

Ash said he still plans to vote for McCain, but worries the senator might lose support for refusing to back the party’s nominee.

“I think voters who are Trump supporters would hold their nose and vote for McCain,” he said. “There will be some voters who will punish him, and this is going to be a close election.”

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McCain reacted too harshly, Ash said.

“He should have waited until the fire died down and kept his cool. And he didn’t, he reacted,” Ash said.

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake has also disavowed Trump, but is not facing re-election in this cycle.

Ash declined to discuss House Speaker Paul Ryan’s announcement Monday that he would no longer defend Trump. He praised the “more adult” way that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell handled the issue.

“He didn’t get rattled when the bull started flying, he kept his cool,” Ash said of McConnell.

As for the RNC pulling funding for Trump, as reported by Politico this weekend, Ash said that also was inaccurate.

On Monday, the chairman of Arizona’s Republican Party, Robert Graham, said he’ll keep on supporting Trump as well. In a lengthy statement, Graham said there’s no way to defend Trump’s comments, but “let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”