Top congressional Republican withdraws his endorsement of Donald Trump
"I'm out. I can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president," Chaffetz said in an interview with Fox 13 in Salt Lake City on Friday night.
Speaking to the 2005 recording in which Trump explicitly suggested that women could be grabbed and manhandled at will, Chaffez said, "It is some of the most abhorrent and offensive comments that you can possibly imagine."
Chaffetz, who represents Utah's Third Congressional District, is one of a group of Republicans who grilled Hillary Clinton, Trump's Democratic rival, over her use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state.
He says he has no plans to vote for Clinton.
Chaffetz also slammed Trump's initial apology. The statement from the Manhattan billionaire's campaign Friday afternoon simply expressed regret "if anyone was offended."
"That was an apology for getting caught, that was not an apology for the behavior," Chaffetz sniped, adding that Trump's argument that the lewd comments were equivalent to "locker room behavior" were unacceptable.
"I was a place kicker. I was in plenty of locker rooms. This is not locker-room talk," he said.