--- title: Carly Fiorina: Donald Trump Should Step Down as Nominee description: Carly Fiorina called for Donald Trump to drop out of the election, saying he has "manifestly failed" at the responsibilities of a nominee canonical: https://time.com/4523922/carly-fiorina-donald-trump-mike-pence/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-08T16:13:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:05:14.942Z article:section: Politics og:title: Carly Fiorina: Donald Trump Should 'Step Aside' as Presidential Nominee og:description: She called for vice presidential candidate Mike Pence to take his place og:url: https://time.com/4523922/carly-fiorina-donald-trump-mike-pence/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt623c94e80cfc1f90/6988a93c8e06012089467c7a/fiorina.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Presumptive Republican Nominee Donald Trump Speaks At The Road To Majority Conference og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Carly Fiorina: Donald Trump Should 'Step Aside' as Presidential Nominee twitter:description: She called for vice presidential candidate Mike Pence to take his place twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt623c94e80cfc1f90/6988a93c8e06012089467c7a/fiorina.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Carly Fiorina: Donald Trump Should 'Step Aside' as Presidential Nominee  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Oct 8, 2016 4:13 PM UTC  Carly Fiorina speaks during Faith and Freedom Coalitions Road to Majority conference in Washington, D.C., June 10, 2016. Carly Fiorina speaks during Faith and Freedom Coalitions Road to Majority conference in Washington, D.C., June 10, 2016.Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Oct 8, 2016 4:13 PM UTC Former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina called for Donald Trump to drop out of the presidential race, saying he has “manifestly failed” at carrying out the responsibilities of a party nominee. “Donald Trump does not represent me or my party,” she said in a [Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/CarlyFiorina/posts/10158400207515206) on Saturday. “I understand the responsibility of Republicans to support their nominee. Our nominee has weighty responsibilities as well. Donald Trump has manifestly failed in these responsibilities.” Her statement comes the day after [the Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4%5Fstory.html?tid=sm%5Ftw) published a [video from 2005](http://time.com/4523755/donald-trump-leaked-tape-impact/) in which Trump boasts about hitting on a married woman and groping women. “And when you’re a star, they let you do it,” Trump said in the video. “You can do anything.” He [apologized](http://time.com/4523851/donald-trump-apology-access-hollywood/) in a video message released early Saturday morning, saying the comments don’t reflect who he is. He called the tape a “distraction” from important issues. “Today I ask Donald Trump to step aside and for the RNC to replace him with Gov. Mike Pence,” Fiorina said in her Facebook post, maintaining that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is “unfit” to be president. Fiorina has called out Trump for his comments about women previously. After he [criticized her appearance](http://fortune.com/2015/09/10/trump-on-fiorina-look-at-that-face-would-anyone-vote-for-that/) in an interview last year—”Look at that face! Would anybody vote for that?”—she fired back at him during a primary debate, when asked about his remarks. “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said,” she said. 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