senator john mccain, the 2008 republican presidential nominee, withdrew his support on saturday for donald j. trump as the republican party descended into chaos . on friday, a recording was released showing mr. trump speaking about women in lewd and degrading terms. a defiant trump says he will not step aside as his wife, melania, released a statement. though he faced calls from many in his party to step aside, mr. trump vowed in an interview that he would <u+201c>never drop out of this race in a million years.<u+201d> he later took a stronger stance on twitter . ms. trump said in a statement on saturday that although his words about women were <u+201c>unacceptable and offensive<u+201d> to her, she hoped that <u+201c>people will accept his apology, as i have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world.<u+201d> mr. trump showed up just before 5 p.m. in the lobby of trump tower in manhattan, accompanied by his campaign manager, kellyanne conway, and his eldest child, donald trump jr. security officials stopped reporters and attempted to bar them from getting near mr. trump as he went outside and immersed himself in a crowd of supporters, who had gathered hours earlier for a rally. <u+201c>hundred percent,<u+201d> mr. trump told reporters who yelled questions about whether he would stay in the race. he ignored other questions about his response to the defections by republicans. separately, one of mr. trump<u+2019>s advisers, rudolph w. giuliani , a former mayor of new york city, was seen on cnn getting into a car outside trump tower, which he had earlier entered for planned debate preparation sessions. <u+201c>there is nothing that will cause his dropping out,<u+201d> mr. giuliani said. <u+201c>that is wishful thinking of the clinton campaign and those who have opposed him for a long time.<u+201d> though two of his biggest financial backers are sticking with him ... robert and rebekah mercer, the republican mega donors who previously supported senator ted cruz, suggested mr. trump<u+2019>s remarks were irrelevant to the race. <u+201c>if mr. trump had told billy bush, whoever that is, earlier this year that he was for open borders, open trade and executive actions in pursuit of gun control, we would certainly be rethinking our support for him,<u+201d> they said in a statement. the mercers also compared mr. trump<u+2019>s actions to bill clinton<u+2019>s treatment of women. the tactic is a favorite of mr. trump<u+2019>s supporters, including sean hannity, the fox news host, who devoted most of his show on friday evening to allegations of abuse by mr. clinton. ... many prominent republicans have rescinded endorsements and distanced themselves from him. <u+2022> condoleezza rice, the secretary of state under president george w. bush, who has generally has not discussed politics since becoming a private citizen, called for mr. trump to leave the race. she said she hoped to support someone who has the dignity and stature to be president. <u+201c>enough!<u+201d> ms. rice said in a facebook post . <u+201c>donald trump should not be president. he should withdraw.<u+201d> <u+2022> mr. mccain, who has criticized mr. trump repeatedly, officially withdrew his backing. <u+201c>i have wanted to support the candidate our party nominated,<u+201d> he said in a statement. he added: <u+201c>but donald trump<u+2019>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.<u+201d> <u+2022> house speaker paul d. ryan said he was <u+201c>sickened<u+201d> by mr. trump<u+2019>s behavior and disinvited him from a saturday event in wisconsin. there, he referred obliquely to the episode. <u+201c>there is an elephant in the room. that is not what we are here to talk about today.<u+201d> (here<u+2019>s how mr. ryan and senator mitch mcconnell, the majority leader, have condemned mr. trump in past statements.) <u+2022> former primary opponents such as carly fiorina and gov. john kasich of ohio said mr. trump should stand down. mr. kasich declared that the warning signs were right and that he would never vote for mr. trump. <u+2022> mr. trump<u+2019>s most strident defender, his running mate, gov. mike pence of indiana, called the remarks from the 2005 video indefensible. <u+2022> we are also tallying the number of republican leaders who say they won<u+2019>t vote for mr. trump . some republicans want to dump trump. can they? experts say that swapping out a presidential nominee at this stage of the game would be virtually impossible unless mr. trump dies, becomes incapacitated or decides to quit. trying to change the republican national committee<u+2019>s rules with so little time until election day would be a logistical nightmare, and those rules do not give the party the power to change the nominee because people are unhappy. if mr. trump did decide to drop out, the logistics would also be challenging because ballots have been printed and voting has already started in many places. we break it down in our q . and a . still, as unlikely as that scenario appears to be, that remains the best hope for finding a new nominee. the debate on sunday will be must-see tv. the showdown between mr. trump and mrs. clinton on sunday night takes on even greater importance after mr. trump<u+2019>s latest controversy. unless he speaks beforehand, it will be his first chance to publicly take questions about his behavior on the recording. the audience could approach 100 million. many republicans who have yet to denounce mr. trump have suggested that the debate will be a make-or-break moment for him. and here are our best photos from the week. take a look . nicholas confessore and maggie haberman contributed reporting. find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via facebook , twitter and the first draft newsletter .
john mccain withdraws support for donald trump after disclosure of recording
alan rappeport