Republicans Withdraw Support for Trump After Access Hollywood Tape

In the hours and days following the October 7, 2016 release of the Access Hollywood tape, dozens of Republican officials withdrew their support for Donald Trump, with many calling for him to exit the presidential race entirely. The mass defection represented the most serious internal challenge to Trump’s candidacy and appeared to threaten the viability of his campaign just one month before the election.

Paul Ryan’s Response

House Speaker Paul Ryan issued an immediate statement declaring he was “sickened by what I heard today” and disinvited Trump from a scheduled joint campaign rally in Wisconsin the following day. Ryan announced he would “no longer defend or campaign with Donald Trump” and would instead focus on protecting the Republican congressional majority.

On October 10, 2016, three days after the tape’s release, Ryan held an emergency conference call with all House Republicans—a rare move that signaled the severity of the crisis. On the call, Ryan told members: “I am not going to defend Donald Trump. Not now, not in the future.” He gave Republican lawmakers explicit permission to abandon Trump, stating: “You all need to do what’s best for you and your district.” This unprecedented directive from the Speaker effectively released House Republicans from any obligation to support their party’s presidential nominee.

Wave of Republican Defections

Immediate Withdrawals (October 7-8):

• Jason Chaffetz (Utah), Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, became the first sitting Republican congressman to withdraw support, telling Fox 13 News “I’m out” and stating he could “no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president.”
• John McCain (Arizona), the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, withdrew his endorsement and called for Trump to step aside.
• Kelly Ayotte (New Hampshire), a senator in a competitive reelection race, withdrew support.
• Mike Crapo (Idaho), senior senator, rescinded his endorsement.
• Martha Roby (Alabama), congresswoman, withdrew support.
• Barbara Comstock (Virginia), congresswoman in a swing district, called for Trump to step aside.

Dozens of additional Republican officials, including senators, representatives, and state-level leaders, followed suit in the days after the tape’s release. The defections represented an unprecedented fracture in party unity during the final month of a presidential campaign.

RNC Chairman’s Position

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus condemned Trump’s comments, stating “No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. Ever.” However, unlike many Republicans, Priebus maintained support for Trump, declaring on October 10 that “Nothing has changed in regard with our relationship” with the campaign. This position reflected the difficult position of party leadership, caught between condemning Trump’s behavior and maintaining support for the Republican nominee.

The Return to Trump

Despite the initial wave of defections, most Republicans eventually returned to supporting Trump. Jason Chaffetz reversed his position on October 27, 2016, becoming the sixth Republican member of Congress to flip back to supporting Trump. By election day, most Republican officials who had withdrawn support had quietly resumed backing the nominee, prioritizing party unity and the possibility of victory over their stated moral objections.

Significance

The Republican response to the Access Hollywood tape revealed the fundamental tensions within the party in the Trump era: individual members’ moral opposition to Trump’s behavior versus party loyalty and fear of alienating Trump’s base. Paul Ryan’s unprecedented directive giving members permission to abandon the nominee demonstrated how severely party leadership viewed the crisis.

However, the episode also established a pattern that would repeat throughout Trump’s political career: initial Republican outrage followed by capitulation and resumed support. The fact that Trump survived the Access Hollywood tape—both politically and within his own party—fundamentally altered Republican Party norms around acceptable behavior and demonstrated the limited power of traditional scandal narratives to threaten Trump’s position within the GOP.

The mass defections proved temporary, and Trump’s resilience in the face of the scandal emboldened his approach of never apologizing and attacking critics rather than expressing contrition. For Republicans who had withdrawn support, the experience taught them that opposition to Trump carried greater political risks than supporting him, a lesson that would shape Republican Party dynamics for years to come.