• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
Leadership

Senate and House Democrats See Big Opportunity in Trump Tapes

By
The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 12, 2016, 3:27 AM ET
Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton Attends Meetings With Legislators  On Capitol Hill
Photograph by Alex Wong — Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Democrats trying to retake the House and Senate see new opportunity from the tape of Donald Trump talking about women in crude, predatory terms. The footage has already prompted ads in at least two House races as well as the hard-fought New Hampshire Senate contest, and may be giving new life to Democratic efforts to tie Republican candidates to the Republican presidential nominee.

Such efforts have had mixed results so far, and it remains to be seen how much the new audio and video tape of Trump talking about groping and kissing women will change that. Several GOP Senate candidates in top-tier races, including New Hampshire, announced over the weekend they were pulling support from Trump. House Speaker Paul Ryan declared Monday that he will not campaign for or defend the nominee, giving House Republicans permission to dump him.

But officials in both parties say they will not know the extent of the damage to Trump, or the impact on down-ballot races, until polling results filter in later this week and next.

For now, though, the reaction is elation on the part of Democrats—and concern from Republicans.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi told upbeat House Democrats on a conference call Tuesday that if the election were held today, Democrats would take back the House—although few are quite that optimistic, given the Republicans’ 246-186 seat advantage.

“We are expanding our universe of opportunities,” Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said on the same conference call, pointing to new polling showing Democrats had opened up the biggest advantage since Republicans shut down the government two years ago on the question of which party voters preferred to control Congress.

The comments were confirmed by a Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose the private conference call.

 

In an open House seat in Wisconsin, Democrat Tom Nelson is airing an ad using the new Trump audio and attacking opponent Mike Gallagher, who’s been favored to win. “Mike Gallagher still says we have to support Donald Trump. No, we don’t. We don’t have to support Mike Gallagher either,” the narrator says.

In Minnesota, Democratic challenger Terri Bonoff has an ad hitting GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen for not distancing himself from the Republican presidential candidate until now.

And in the New Hampshire Senate race, Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan uses the new Trump footage, and a clip of Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte saying during a debate that she would “absolutely” view Trump as a role model. Ayotte later said she misspoke, and on Saturday she withdrew her endorsement of Trump.

The Trump tape “gives us an opportunity with any voter who happens to be female,” said Alixandria Lapp, executive director of the House Majority PAC, which helps Democratic candidates. She later amended the remark to include “anyone who is human and decent” and added that the video “potentially depresses some Republican enthusiasm for going out to vote on Election Day.”

Republicans say that the potential for depressed turnout is one of the most concerning potential impacts of the tape. Center-right voters could just sit out the election and the few remaining undecided voters could all shift to the Democrats. Democrats need to pick up five seats to take back control of the Senate, or four if they retain White House control since the vice president casts tie-breaking votes.

Republican Senate candidates have tried all year to build their campaigns into insulated operations that can withstand the controversy of the day created by Trump. There’s evidence that the strategy has been working, as Republicans in Ohio, Nevada, Florida, Pennsylvania and elsewhere have been running ahead of Trump. But this latest controversy may test the limits of the GOP approach.

“The Democrats have invested millions of dollars trying to pin Donald Trump on our Senate candidates and I think they’ve had very little to show for it so far,” said Steven Law, president of the Senate Leadership Fund, a GOP super PAC focused on Senate races. A key concern now, Law said, is “whether there is a decline in voter enthusiasm on our side that could obviously have down-ticket ramifications.”

Josh Holmes, a GOP consultant close to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said it would be “difficult but possible” for Republicans to retain Senate control if Trump is running behind Hillary Clinton by as much as 11 percentage points, the margin in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted after the Trump comments came out but before the Sunday night debate.

But Republicans agree there is a limit to how far ahead of the GOP nominee their candidates can run.

And if Trump’s support continues to fall, it could encourage a spate of GOP House and Senate candidates to run ads touting themselves and a Republican Congress as the best way to check a Clinton presidency.

About the Author
By The Associated Press
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Leadership

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Leadership

Cleveland’s WNBA team doesn’t play until 2028 but Progressive just scored jersey sponsorship
SuccessSports
Cleveland’s WNBA team doesn’t play until 2028 but Progressive just scored jersey sponsorship
By Joe Reedy and The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
5 hours ago
Moldova’s parliament elects 44-year-old businessman investor Vasile Tofan as prime minister
PoliticsEuropean Union
Moldova’s parliament elects 44-year-old businessman investor Vasile Tofan as prime minister
By The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
6 hours ago
Bill Gates called meeting Epstein a ‘grave error in judgment.’ A new review shows the Gates Foundation still met with him about 30 times
North AmericaBill Gates
Bill Gates called meeting Epstein a ‘grave error in judgment.’ A new review shows the Gates Foundation still met with him about 30 times
By James Pollard and The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
7 hours ago
Lauren Sánchez Bezos put $34 million behind reinventing what clothes are made of—and stirred a debate about Amazon
Environmentphilanthropy
Lauren Sánchez Bezos put $34 million behind reinventing what clothes are made of—and stirred a debate about Amazon
By Sydney LakeJuly 21, 2026
8 hours ago
Federal civil rights agency votes to scrap 60-year-old workforce diversity reporting rule
Politicsdiversity and inclusion
Federal civil rights agency votes to scrap 60-year-old workforce diversity reporting rule
By The Associated Press, Claire Savage and Alexandra OlsonJuly 21, 2026
8 hours ago
A family crisis inspired Bill Ackman to spend $260 million to create a massive brain research institute in Manhattan
InnovationBill Ackman
A family crisis inspired Bill Ackman to spend $260 million to create a massive brain research institute in Manhattan
By Jeff John RobertsJuly 21, 2026
8 hours ago

Most Popular

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
1 day ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
2 days ago
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
Cybersecurity
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
By Jeremy Kahn and Emily ForliniJuly 21, 2026
7 hours ago
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
AI
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
By Jason MaJuly 18, 2026
3 days ago
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
AI
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
By Eva RoytburgJuly 21, 2026
11 hours ago
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
Success
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
By Emma BurleighJuly 21, 2026
12 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.