COLUMBIA, S.C. -- In yet another sign that South Carolina Republican powers want Gov. Mark Sanford to resign, U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint on Wednesday morning urged his fellow Republican Sanford to make the “right decision.”
“He’s dropped the flag. The rest of us have to get up and go on,” DeMint said during an interview on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.” “A lot of us are talking to him behind the scenes in hopes that he'll make the right decision about what needs to be done.”
Asked what the “right decision” would be for Sanford, DeMint said: “I don't want to say.”
Sanford vanished late last month from South Carolina without telling anyone where he was going for a week to visit his Argentine lover. Confronted by a State newspaper when his plane from Argentina landed at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Sanford initially said he had been on an adventure trip to Argentina, driving the country’s coast line.
When subsequently told The State had e-mails outlining an affair with Maria Belen Chapur, Sanford said he had been unfaithful to his wife and that they were separated.
During an Tuesday interview, Sanford said he had “crossed lines” with multiple women and added he actually visited his Argentine mistress on seven different trips dating back to 2001. DeMint said the further explanation was “not a wise thing to do in this business.”
“They say, when you are explaining, you are losing. And particularly on that subject, I think, he was,” the senator said. “I'm concerned of whether or not he is in a position that he can continue to lead the state.”
DeMint said that a number of state Republicans are “talking to (Sanford) quietly, and hopefully it will be resolved.”
“I have my concerns to whether or not he can continue,” he said. “I think we will see some resolution in the next week.”
Twelve of the 27 members of the state Senate's Majority Caucus now have signed a petition, calling for Sanford to resign.
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