Rauner Condemns Trump's 'Vile' Coments, But Maintains Support

By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 10, 2016 4:44PM

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner at the Illinois State Fair. Photo by Aaron Cynic.

The audio of Donald Trump’s, um, “locker room talk” that was revealed on Friday by the Washington Post prompted dozens of Republican lawmakers and governors to publicly declare their intentions to not vote for Trump—or outright demand he drop out. Gov. Bruce Rauner, though, fell into the third, safer camp: those who criticized Trump but failed to fully disavow him.

One day after audio surfaced of the GOP presidential nominee casually expressing his fondness for sexual assault, Rauner was asked by reporters to comment. He reprimanded Donald “Grab them by the pussy” Trump, but not before watering it down with a blanket where-is-the-civility? pearl clutch, according to Politico:

“I’ll say this: the rhetoric in this presidential campaign, appalling, disgusting,” Rauner said when asked for his reaction to Trump’s comments about women according to audio provided to POLITICO. “And as a father, as a husband, the language is vile and repulsive and I condemn it in the strongest possible way.”

(Also, note the nauseatingly ubiquitous “as a father, as a husband” framing device—as if marriage to a woman or rearing a daughter were prerequisites for standing against sexual abuse.)

When pressed whether he supports Trump, Rauner reportedly interrupted “I’ve made my comment.”

Trump’s loss in Illinois is virtually guaranteed at this point. According to FiveThirtyEight’s now-cast, which projects the winner if the election were held today, Hillary Clinton holds 99.5% chance of winning the state. (A polls-only forecast places her chances at 98.9%).

But as Politico points out, Rauner is incentivized to keep Illinois Republican voters placated, as he fights to maintain Republican seats in south and central Illinois and looks to take over Democratic seats in urban areas for the General Assembly. Yet given Trump's lack of popularity in Illinois, the strategy could backfire. Senator Mark Kirk, for example, has made a public show of his disfavor for Trump in hopes of courting moderate Republican voters. Meanwhile, Rauner very quietly indicated his support for Trump in September but is often reluctant to discuss it.

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) withdrew his support for Trump over the weekend; and U.S. Rep. Bob Dold (R-IL) called for him to step aside.

For our mis-prioritized governor, though, the line somehow remains un-crossed: