As many of us are aware, earlier this month a leaked tape from 2005 showing Donald Trump bragging about sexual assault went viral and has evoked a wide range of responses within the Republican Party. The tape, which was released by The Washington Post, contained a lewd conversation between Trump and Billy Bush in which Trump brags about sexual assault and says that being a celebrity means that he can get away with his actions.

I will be completely honest: On the day this story broke and I saw the headline my immediate reaction was, "And...?". I thought there had to be more to the story because in no way did I believe that this alone would make it headline news. Even now it is difficult for me to believe that this was breaking news at all because in no way is this tape from 11 years ago any different from the vile rhetoric that he has spewed during the past year. I was surprised that it was gaining so much momentum. Many assert that this tape was the final straw after a long string of controversies and that it's because this tape is raw and that Trump is not speaking for the cameras, making it feel more visceral and real. My issue with that logic is this: I would accept this being the final straw if this straw was any different from the entire bundle of it that has been shoved down our throats over the past sixteen months. We have multiple sources of this consistent type of speech and behavior over the past year of him saying equally offensive comments about women, minorities, disabled people, veterans, the list goes on. And that evidence is just as convicting because most of it is videos, interviews, and other firsthand sources. It astounds me that this clip is what has broken the dam. How can this clip from 11 years ago really scandalize people? Did they think that he was a different man then, that these actions and mentality were developed recently? Of course not. The man has been doing this for decades. And we all knew it, we knew the truth about his nature and character long before this, especially since he has had multiple allegations of sexual assault against him, long before he even considered running for president.

Back in August, MSNBC ran a poll listing all the most offensive things that Trump has ever said and asked which statement people were most offended by, and they concluded that his mocking of a disabled reporter was what affronted people the most. In all honesty, I am less disturbed by the results of the poll than the fact that it was even made. Making a poll of Donald Trump’s most objectionable remarks implies that some are more unacceptable and morally repugnant than others, something I cannot in any way justify. I don't understand how there can be any type of scale for the callousness of his words. How can we say that him calling Mexicans rapists is any more or less repulsive than calling for a ban on Muslims or calling a woman "Miss Piggy"? Scales and polls like this trivialize his hate speech and make it seem as if there is an agenda as if there is a pecking order in what comments are more distasteful than others.

Notable individuals such as Republican political commentator Anna Navarro, The Daily Show host Trevor Noah, Late Night With Seth Meyers host Seth Meyers, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert host Stephen Colbert, and political comedian John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, amongst others have been on the forefront in calling out not only Trump and his remarks, but also those members of the Republican Party who have defended him. Anna Navarro has been one of Trump’s most vocal and staunch opposers, making no excuses or apologies for him and never sugar-coating the outrageous actions and statements of the Republican nominee and of her own party. John Oliver was just as hard on the Republican Party. After Paul Ryan’s statement regarding the tape, in which he said women shouldn’t be objectified and that he hoped Trump understood the serious nature of his actions and John McCain’s statement saying that Trump alone was responsible for his actions, Oliver pointed out that Trump “alone does not bear the burden of his conduct, because he alone did not make himself your party’s nominee”. In response to Ryan’s statements about women needing to be championed, he responded, “Championed and revered? You do know that women are human beings and not pedigreed show dogs, right? You hope he works to demonstrate respect for women? What are you talking about? It’s too late in absolutely every way. First, it’s October of an election year, and second, he’s f****** 70!” He went on to say, “All of you have consistently supported him through some absolutely heinous s***. In his very first campaign speech, he called Mexicans ‘rapists’ — and that was just the beginning. Because since then, he’s proposed a temporary ban on Muslim immigrants; advocated for killing terrorists’ families, which is, by the way, a war crime; argued for waterboarding even if it doesn’t obtain information because — and I quote — ‘they deserve it anyway’; and just this week he stood by his claims that the Central Park Five were guilty despite the fact that DNA evidence has since exonerated them. And all of you still thought that he should be president. So the only way that you get to be shocked and outraged now is if you were cryogenically frozen until Friday afternoon, and that Access Hollywood tape was the first thing you saw upon being reanimated. Anything less than that, and this is on you too.” His words were right on the money; it is far too late for them to be abhorred by Donald Trump. That ship sailed a long time ago.

It is safe to say that the leaking of this tape has significantly destabilized the Republican Party and the GOP, throwing them into disarray and chaos. Since the tape came out, a number of prominent Republicans renounced their nominee (of course, several of them proved their hypocrisy once more when they retracted their statements a few short days later, saying that they would still be voting for Trump). And while I do think the Republican Party has a significant hand in the rise of Trump, I do concede that the blame does not entirely reside with them since many of them did not want him in the first place. However, I will specifically call out those who pulled back their endorsements and support after the tape released. What infuriated me, apart from the contents of the tape and the fact that this was the scandal that they chose to abandon him, were the statements made by members of the Republican Party who withdrew their endorsements and/or support for Trump. Paul Ryan stated, “Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified. I hope Mr Trump treats this situation with the seriousness it deserves and works to demonstrate to the country that he has greater respect for women than this clip suggests.”. John McCain released a statement saying, "Donald Trump'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." Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Jeb Bush, and Representative Jason Chaffetz referenced the women in their lives as being a core factor in dropping Trump, with Sullivan saying that he was “inspired by my three wonderful teenage daughters, and my wise and gracious wife”, and Jeb Bush tweeting, “As the grandfather of two precious girls, I find that no apology can excuse away Donald Trump’s reprehensible comments degrading women”, and finally Chaffetz, stating: “My wife and I, we have a 15-year-old daughter, and if I can’t look her in the eye and tell her these things, I can’t endorse this person.” Even Trump’s running mate for Vice President, Mike Pence, who said that he still supported Trump even though he couldn’t defend his comments in the tape, said: “As a husband and a father, I was offended by the words and actions described by Donald Trump in the eleven-year old video released today.”.

Here is a newsflash to these Republicans: Withdrawing your endorsements and breaking ties with him now does not make you all heroes. Do not pretend you have just now seen the error of your ways or expect to be patted on the back (or even taken seriously) for leaving him. You are more than welcome to take back your money and publicly scorn him and speak about what a contemptible human being he is---heck, you're obligated to do that, after all the stunts he’s pulled. But you were obligated to do that on the day he announced he was running for president. Don't think that doing so now makes you all high and mighty, that you have been absolved of wrongdoing for supporting him in the first place. This does not redeem you. Many of you who withdrew support after the tape cited the women in your lives---your mothers, sisters, wives, daughters---as reason for being unable to defend such heinous comments, generally implying that you could not, in good conscience, continue supporting him. There are three issues with that notion. First of all, it is disgraceful that after all the comments he's made about minorities, veterans, and other individuals that now you draw the line when he makes crude and insensitive comments about women and sexual assault. Again, that gives a hierarchy to the offensive rhetoric he's been spewing and it trivializes the other remarks he's made, making it seem as if some are more despicable than others. Second of all, you do not have to have women in your personal life to justify deserting him. You just need to be a human being, one who opposes the objectification and assault of women (and men, of course). And lastly, you have had wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters since long before the beginning of his campaign. This is not the first time he has made obscene comments about women. If you were really thinking about them when you withdrew your support, you would have done so at the beginning of his campaign. You had no problem looking your female family in the eye with a straight face when he objectified women a year ago. Where was your virtue then? Were your morality and ethics in hibernation, or perhaps frozen in a time capsule when the Republican Party used to stand up for what they believed in? In addition, you didn’t waver when he offended veterans, the disabled, and pretty much every minority in the book. It was when he objectified women that you decided to “take a stand”, and even then you took your sweet time. It again implies that there is a hierarchy with regards to which of his remarks are most reprehensible. In essence here, the strength of your integrity and moral compass has been tested time and time again over the past sixteen months and you failed every single time. This may have been the last straw for you, but that is like spitting it out after eating bundles of it while the rest of us (including people in your own party) were smart enough to not even touch it. Do not applaud yourself because now you claim to see the light. You lost sight of that light a long time ago, and whether or not you can manage to rediscover it remains to be seen.