by Joe Azar
Last week a leaked audio recording of Donald Trump from back in 2005 put the Republican presidential nominee under the national spotlight once again.
The audio reveals Trump discussing the grabbing of women by the crotch and kissing them without consent due to Trump’s star status.
The backlash towards the audio was shown when Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Sen. Kelly Ayote, R-N.H. and others pulled their support for Trump.
However, some, including leaders in the Grand Valley community, have announced they will continue to back him to be the next president of the United States.
In a recent article in The Daily Sentinel, U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton said that despite Trump being “flawed’ he would continue to support him as the Republican nominee.
“I find Trump’s comments shocking and appalling,” Tipton said. “That said, this is the reality: It is too late to replace anyone on the ballot. I will cast my vote for the candidate who will put policies in place to best help the 3rd Congressional District, which has seen unemployment remain in double-digits and health care premiums continue to rise to unaffordable levels under Obama.”
Tipton also emphasized the struggles in the 3rd Congressional District and reiterated that it can not afford a Hillary Clinton presidential term.
However, Tipton did call on the GOP to make a sincere apology to women.
Sen. Ray Scott did not hesitate with his decision to continue his support of Trump.
Scott became Trump’s field coordinator for the Western Slope in August and stated his reason to back the nominee on his postngo.net blog.
“I’m trying real hard to remember a perfect president or for that matter anyone that has run for political office,” Scott said. “I don’t agree with all of Trump’s positions or comments by any means. I support him for his economic plan, ending the war on fossil fuels, his stance on defense, immigration, the Second Amendment and trade issues.”
CMU’s student government president, Josh Dillinger, also criticized Trump’s comments on women.
“Part of me was just shocked he would just say it like that,” Dillinger said. “It was pretty crude, especially for 2005. I feel like our views change over time, but back then I feel like it would’ve been seen as crude, even for back then. It’s Donald, you take it with a spoonful of salt instead of a grain.”
Still, Dillinger believes that it is Trump’s policies that make him the best option for president.
“One of the reasons I support him is mainly because of my feelings towards Hillary,” Dillinger said. “Especially from the state that I am from, [Wyoming], it would be detrimental to elect Hillary with her plans for energy.”
He went on explain why he likes Trump’s point of view on certain ideas.
“Anyone that knows me knows that I really like to change things,” Dillinger said. “That’s what I like about him he looks at things through a different lens. He recognizes that things aren’t working, and his mentality is let’s throw everything against the wall, let’s throw everything out there and by the time Washington does what Washington does, something is going to stick.”
Dillinger also encourages people at CMU and other voters to not take just sound bites of a Trump speech on social media and listen to the entirety of what the nominee is saying.
“He just says what’s on his mind,” Dillinger said. “And then they grab the sound bite that says ‘Let’s ban Muslims’ but then they miss the rest of the speech about why it might be best to temporarily suspend immigration from these Muslim countries until we identify those who are dangerous. They miss that part. I think part of it is people don’t look past what the media is telling them.”
Dillinger concluded by suggesting potential voters to look at more than one news source.
“The fact that we look at shows like Samantha Bee and we count her opinion and look at that as a way to get informed on the presidential election is sad,” Dillinger said. “It’s good that people are engaging, but go out and find more. Look at the candidate’s websites an
