Senator John McCain, a senior figure in the Republican Party who was its 2008 presidential nominee, formally withdrew his support Saturday for Donald Trump over lewd remarks that threw his White House campaign into disarray.
"I have wanted to support the candidate our party nominated. He was not my choice, but as a past nominee, I thought it important I respect the fact that Donald Trump won a majority of the delegates by the rules our party set. I thought I owed his supporters that deference," read a statement from McCain, the latest in a growing number of Republicans to withdraw support for Trump.
"But Donald Trump's behavior this week, concluding with the disclosure of his demeaning comments about women and his boasts about sexual assaults, make it impossible to continue to offer even conditional support for his candidacy.
"Cindy and I will not vote for Donald Trump," he added, referring to his wife.
"I have never voted for a Democratic presidential candidate and we will not vote for Hillary Clinton. We will write in the name of some good conservative Republican who is qualified to be president."
Melania Trump reacts
Donald Trump's wife blasted her husband's lewd remarks about groping women shortly after he married her in 2005 as "unacceptable and offensive," but urged the public to accept his apology.
"The words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me. This does not represent the man that I know," Melania Trump said in a statement.
"He has the heart and mind of a leader. I hope people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world."
