{"id":196279,"date":"2016-10-11T22:02:42","date_gmt":"2016-10-12T04:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=196279"},"modified":"2017-01-13T08:19:19","modified_gmt":"2017-01-13T15:19:19","slug":"pearce-supports-trump-but-says-comments-about-women-were-horrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/10\/pearce-supports-trump-but-says-comments-about-women-were-horrid\/","title":{"rendered":"Pearce supports Trump, but says comments about women were ‘horrid’"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce says he supports Donald Trump,\u00a0but he said\u00a0comments the Republican presidential nominee made about women in 2005 are “horrid.”<\/p>\n

\"Steve

Heath Haussamen \/ NMPolitics.net<\/p>

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., at Tuesday’s debate.<\/p><\/div>\n

The reason he supports Trump? Citing the 2012 attack on two U.S. government buildings in Benghazi, Libya, Pearce said he can’t even consider backing\u00a0Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n

That attack, which occurred while Clinton was secretary of state, resulted in the deaths of J. Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three other Americans. Clinton has taken responsibility<\/a> for the attacks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Still, Pearce, New Mexico’s only Republican in Congress, denounced Trump’s comments. In the 2005 video<\/a>, Trump\u00a0talks about trying unsuccessfully to have sex with a married woman and claims to kiss and grab women \u201cby the pussy\u201d without their consent.<\/p>\n

“I think that the comments were horrid.\u00a0They are indefensible, and I don’t defend them,” Pearce said in an interview with journalists following a Tuesday night debate with his opponent in the Nov. 8 election, Democrat Merrie Lee Soules.<\/p>\n

“But I expressed my deep-rooted feelings here tonight that I have about Benghazi and how we left people hanging,” Pearce\u00a0said. “I think that was very clear in my discussion tonight — why I could never support Mrs. Clinton.”<\/p>\n

The comments were\u00a0Pearce’s first public statement\u00a0about the 2005 Trump video, which was released Friday and has divided Republicans. Some, including Gov. Susana Martinez<\/a>, have said they won’t support Trump. Others, including state GOP Chairwoman Debbie Maestas<\/a>, have reaffirmed their support for Trump.<\/p>\n

During the debate, Pearce, who is normally an even-keeled speaker, became visibly agitated when talking about the Benghazi attacks. Asked if he endorsed his party’s presidential nominee, Pearce referenced the attacks in explaining why he\u00a0supports Trump.<\/p>\n

But Pearce\u00a0wasn’t full of praise for Trump either. He criticized the presidential candidate’s\u00a0proposal to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border\u00a0and,\u00a0he’s done in the past<\/a>, said Trump needs to\u00a0improve his\u00a0relationship with Hispanics.<\/p>\n

In fact, Pearce said that is why he has refused to endorse Trump even though he supports him. Pearce\u00a0said he’s trying to get Trump’s attention, and he suggested it’s working. He said Trump is talking less about building a\u00a0wall these days.<\/p>\n

\"Merrie

Heath Haussamen \/ NMPolitics.net<\/p>

Merrie Lee Soules, the Democrat challenging Pearce, at Tuesday’s debate.<\/p><\/div>\n

During the debate, Soules criticized Pearce for his statement\u00a0that he can publicly support Trump without endorsing him.<\/p>\n

“Well, how’s that working for you?” she asked. “I say, Congressman Pearce, if the shoe fits wear it.”<\/p>\n

Soules\u00a0also\u00a0said she is\u00a0“proud to be on the ticket with Secretary Hillary Clinton.”<\/p>\n

After the debate, Soules said\u00a0the 2005 video shows\u00a0Trump\u00a0being “horribly disrespectful of women.” She said she\u00a0“can’t even wrap my mind around”\u00a0how Pearce can “continue to support but not endorse” Trump.<\/p>\n

About 200 people attended the debate, which was held at The Dream Center in Las Cruces and sponsored by the League of United Latin American Citizens. The crowd was\u00a0sometimes\u00a0rowdy, and people at times verbally expressed disapproval of statements made by the candidates — Pearce more often than Soules.<\/p>\n

Pearce and Soules sparred on a number of issues including education, health care, immigration, veteran’s issues, taxes, the environment, climate change, and legalizing marijuana for recreational use. They\u00a0agreed on very little.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The reason Pearce supports Trump? Citing the 2012 attack on two U.S. government buildings in Benghazi, Libya, Pearce said he can’t even consider backing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":196333,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[708,219,3307,194,3306,116],"class_list":["post-196279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-2016-election","tag-2nd-congressional-district","tag-donald-trump","tag-republican-party","tag-steve-pearce","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}