Two Republican senators said on Sunday their party should immediately consider returning contributions from the Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn, in light of sexual harassment and assault allegations against him.
Republicans have previously called on Democrats to return contributions from figures including the disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
In early October, RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel tweeted that if the Democratic National Committee “truly stands up for women like they say they do, then returning Weinstein’s dirty money should be a no-brainer”.
McDaniel confirmed Wynn’s resignation in a statement on Saturday, having reportedly discussed the issue with Trump. The RNC did not say immediately if it would return any money donated by Wynn.
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told ABC’s This Week on Sunday money from Wynn should be returned if the allegations against him are found to “have merit”.
“We should do ourselves what we ask of the Democratic party,” Graham said. “I don’t think we should have a double standard for ourselves.’
Susan Collins of Maine told CNN’s state of the union that Republicans should return money if they had accepted contributions recently that had not been spent. Collins said she had not received money from Wynn.
Wynn led RNC fundraising efforts during Donald Trump’s first year in the White House, helping rake in more than $130m.
According to the Federal Election Commission, he personally contributed more than $600,000.
He resigned on Saturday after a Wall Street Journal report on allegations of harassment and assault made by several women. One case led to a $7.5m settlement with a manicurist, the paper reported.
Wynn denied the allegations and said in a statement: “The unbelievable success we have achieved must continue. The work we are doing to make America a better place is too important to be impaired by this distraction.”
Wynn was among the organizers of a Trump fundraiser last week at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, to celebrate the anniversary of the inauguration.
The president was unable to attend because of the government shutdown. Wynn also helped put together events in Dallas in October and New York City in December.
Wynn has donated to a wide range of political figures, including Nevada senator Dean Heller and the Montana congressman Greg Gianforte.
According to federal records, Wynn gave $2,700 to Gianforte the day after the politician assaulted a Guardian reporter, Ben Jacobs, last May.
Wynn also donated to Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee for president.
