Former congresswoman Michele Bachmann
is among those coming to the defense of Donald Trump as audio of the
GOP candidate bragging about sexually harassing women has Republicans
fleeing.
The list of Republicans calling for
Trump to drop out or withdrawing their support includes Arizona
Senator John McCain, a former GOP presidential nominee.
Bachmann, a vocal opponent of LGBT
rights, defended Trump, telling MSNBC that his comments were “bad
boy talk.” She also blamed Hillary Clinton, Trump's Democratic
rival, for leaking the audio. “She wanted to make sure that
Anderson Cooper or somebody in the audience [at Sunday's debate]
brings this up,” Bachmann said, though the only evidence she could
produce was her “experience.”
Tony Perkins, president of the
Christian conservative Family Research Council (FRC), also dismissed
concerns over Trump, saying that his support was “never based upon
shared values rather it was built upon shared concerns.”
Other evangelical leaders opposed to
LGBT rights, including Mike Huckabee, Robert Jeffress and Ben Carson,
also gave Trump a pass.