Today, Pat Toomey yet again cowardly refused to rule out supporting Donald Trump, despite learning last week that Trump brags about sexually assaulting women.
Over the past year, Trump has viciously attacked women, veterans, a reporter with a disability, prisoners of war, a respected federal judge, and immigrants and Muslim Americans across the country, but Pat Toomey has cravenly continued to put his political prospects first, refusing to do the right thing and promise Pennsylvania families that he won’t cast his vote for Trump.
What will it take for Toomey to rule out supporting Trump, if learning that Trump boasts about sexually assaulting women hasn’t gotten him there?
American Bridge President Jessica Mackler issued the following statement on Pat Toomey’s cowardly hedging on supporting his party’s racist and sexist nominee:
“How is Donald Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women — on top of his months of racism and bigotry, misogyny, and repeated demonstrations of his erratic and vindictive temperament — not enough to convince Pat Toomey that Trump is wholly unfit to be commander in chief?”
Pat Toomey has stood by the Trump-Pence ticket for months:
Timeline color code:
| Major Trump event |
| Toomey supporting Trump |
| December 17, 2015 | Trump said it was a “great honor” to be praised by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “If (Putin) says something positive, that’s a good thing. That’s not a bad thing,” Trump said. [Politico, 12/17/15] |
| February 26, 2016 | Toomey said Trump was an “interesting guy.” [KDKA, 2/26/16] |
| March 14, 2016 | Toomey believed Trump’s rallies had been “peaceful,” and that anti-Trump protesters at Trump’s rallies were “extremely objectionable.” Toomey alleged they were sent by sent by Senator Bernie Sanders, William Ayers, and MoveOn.org. [NewsRadio 790 WAEB via SoundCloud – PDP PR, 3/15/16] |
| April 27, 2016 | Toomey said Trump was “in a strong position” to win the GOP nomination because of “an intense frustration” with “the Obama economy.” [CBS Philly, 4/27/16] |
| Toomey said Trump was not his “first choice” or “second choice” but “intend(ed) to support the Republican nominee.” [BuzzFeed,4/28/16] | |
| May 8, 2016 | Toomey wrote that if Trump were to receive the republican nomination, that he was “inclined to support the nominee of my party” and that he had not agreed with past nominees John McCain, Mitt Romney, or George W. Bush on everything. [Pat Toomey – Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/8/16] |
| May 9, 2016 | Toomey said he hoped to “get to the point where I can enthusiastically support Donald Trump.” [BuzzFeed News, 5/9/16] |
| May 19, 2016 | Toomey was undecided whether he would campaign with Trump. [PoliticsPA, 5/19/16] |
| May 20, 2016 | Toomey said Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees was “encouraging” because it included “solid intellects” and “solid conservatives.” [WPHT-AM 1210, 5/20/16] |
| May 27, 2016 | Trump attacked federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel and said he should recuse himself from Trump University case because of his “Mexican” heritage. [Wall Street Journal, 5/27/16] |
| June 10, 2016 | Toomey attended Senators Classic golf tournament in Williamsburg, Virginia, where Trump spoke to lobbyists and GOP lawmakers. [Politico, 6/10/16] |
| July 2, 2016 | Trump tweeted an image of Hillary Clinton’s face on a background of cash with a six-pointed star that he later said was a “sheriff’s” star, not the Star of David. [CNN, 7/5/16] |
| July 6, 2016 | Trump praised Saddam Hussein. “He killed terrorists. He did that so good. They didn’t read them the rights. They didn’t talk. They were terrorists.” [New York Times, 7/6/16] |
| July 7, 2016 | Toomey attended Trump’s meeting with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill; Toomey’s spokesman said there was a “good dialogue” at the meeting. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 7/7/16] |
| July 21, 2016 | Toomey said there was “a lot we don’t know” about Trump’s “thoughts and his policies and positions; he also said Trump had a “great opportunity to bring the party together.” [Bucks County Courier Times, 7/21/16] |
| July 21, 2016 | Toomey said it was “inappropriate” for Sen. Ted Cruz to urge voters to “vote your conscience” rather than endorse Trump at the Republican National Convention. [Washington Post, 7/22/16] |
| July 27, 2016 | Trump said he hoped Russian intelligence hacked Clinton’s email and encouraged them to publish whatever they found. [New York Times, 7/27/16] |
| July 28, 2016 | Toomey said the election was a “binary choice” between Trump and Clinton and that Clinton was “unacceptable.” [Sentinel,7/28/16] |
| July 29, 2016 | Trump suggested mother of fallen U.S. soldier Humayun Khan could not talk on stage at the DNC due to her religion. [New York Times, 7/30/16] |
| August 9, 2016 | Trump said “maybe” there was something “Second Amendment people” could do to stop Secretary Clinton from selecting Supreme Court justices in order to “abolish the Second Amendment.” |
| August 10, 2016 | Trump called President Obama the “founder of ISIS” and Secretary Clinton was the “co-founder.” |
| August 18, 2016 | Toomey: “I’d like to be able to fully support him I’m not there yet, but I am certainly not in the ‘Never Trump’ category.” [Observer-Reporter, 8/18/16] |
| September 9, 2016 | Toomey surrogate state Sen. Scott Wagner said Toomey was “going to vote for Donald Trump, I feel pretty sure of that. I just know his DNA.” [York Dispatch, 1/18/16] |
| September 23, 2016 | Toomey said Trump’s running mate, Gov. Mike Pence, would be a “great vice president.” [Washington Examiner, 9/23/16] |
| September 24, 2016 | Toomey said he was struggling with his decision about endorsing Trump: “Just because there’s a lot of information out there doesn’t mean it’s easy to make up your mind.” [Philadelphia Magazine, 9/24/16] |
| September 26, 2016 | Toomey: “I hope to get to the point where I can enthusiastically support Donald Trump, and I do think there’s some important things we can do,” including repealing the Affordable Care Act and reforming the tax code. [York Dispatch, 9/26/16] |
| September 30, 2016 | Trump tweeted about a former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, whom he had called “Miss Piggy” and forced to lose weight: “Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate.” [Twitter – Donald Trump, 9/30/16] |
| October 7, 2016 | The Washington Post released 2005 video of Trump saying he groped women, who let him because he was famous. [Washington Post, 10/8/16] |
| October 9, 2016 | Trump said he would jail Hillary Clinton if he became president. [CNN, 10/10/16] |
| October 9, 2016 | Trump defended bragging about sexually assaulting women, calling it “locker room talk.” [New York Times, 10/10/16] |
| October 10, 2016 | To-date, Toomey had not ruled out endorsing Trump. [Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/10/16] |
Published: Oct 10, 2016