Governor Robert Bentley raised eyebrows after recently withdrawing support from Donald Trump. Explaining the decision, he pointed to leaked audio that revealed the GOP presidential nominee to have made crude sexual comments about women. Now, irony be damned, he’s doubling down on his position.
During an appearance at the Leadership Huntsville-Madison County luncheon on Wednesday, the governor said that America is faced with choosing between “two of the worst candidates this country has ever had.”
Before addressing his decision to unendorse Trump, Bentley acknowledged that he’s faced a similar scandal. He then assured the audience that his own transgressions are fewer.
“I said, ‘you know, you know they’re going to mock me. And they’re going to make fun of me, because honestly I said something a few years ago I shouldn’t have said,'” Bentley told attendees. “I admit that. But let me say this, I don’t have a pattern of being derogatory and degrading women. I don’t have a pattern ever of degrading those who are disabled, those who have cerebral palsy, those who are not of the same color that I am. ”
“I just don’t have that attitude and I don’t think the leader of this country ought to have that attitude,” the governor added.
Now, Bentley says he plans to vote for “every Republican on the ticket except Trump.”
Prior to the GOP Primary election, the governor had campaigned for Ohio’s John Kasich. It was only until Trump’s candidacy became an inevitability that Bentley announced he would stand behind the Republican nominee.
“He will be the one that I support, and I will do whatever I can to help,” he said at the time.
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