It’s been another banner week for Donald Trump. He bragged about manipulating tax laws, implied that soldiers with PTSD aren’t “strong,” urged terminally ill people to “hang out” until Election Day, had his child rape case moved forward, and enlisted Ted Cruz — Ted Cruz! — to help him out. Trump also said his vulgar remarks about women, including calling former Miss Universe Alicia Machado “Miss Piggy,” are for “entertainment” purposes. Well, there’s nothing entertaining about this: the Washington Post obtained a video of Trump saying things like “grab them by the p*ssy” on a hot microphone.
The footage comes from 2005 and shows Trump talking with Access Hollywood host Billy Bush on a bus outside the Days of Our Lives set (he made an appearance on an episode that season). The audio begins with Trump discussing his attempt to seduce an unnamed married woman. “I moved on her and I failed. I’ll admit it,” he said. “I did try and f*ck her. She was married. And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, ‘I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture.’ I moved on her like a b*tch, but I couldn’t get there… She’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look.”
Here’s the recording, but obviously, there is a language warning involved.
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Trump later remarked that he’s “automatically attracted to beautiful… It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything.” Another voice, possibly Bush’s, added, “Whatever you want.” Trump continued, “Grab them by the p*ssy. You can do anything.”
Shortly after the Post‘s story went live, Trump, who spent last Friday morning tweeting about a fictional sex tape, released a statement. “This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course — not even close,” he wrote. “I apologize if anyone was offended.” Everyone was offended.
This confirms a couple of things many have suspected: 1) Trump does, in fact, say worse things about women off-camera than he does on-camera, and 2) Billy Bush is the absolute worst.
UPDATE: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Access Hollywood anchor Natalie Morales “revealed that Trump was indeed talking about Entertainment Tonight correspondent Nancy O’Dell.” Also, Billy Bush has issued an apology.
Statement from Billy Bush pic.twitter.com/jUIXTZyENR
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) October 7, 2016
Some responses from the Twittersphere…
"It's just banter." pic.twitter.com/gTvTrPkBEC
— Mo Ryan (@moryan) October 7, 2016
how ironic, that a candidate known for saying crass things on tape would get caught saying a crass thing on tape
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) October 7, 2016
My last wish for 2016 was to not hear Donald Trump ever say the sentence "I moved on her, heavily," so that's it for me everybody.
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) October 7, 2016
Trump calling his hatred & objectification of women "locker room talk" is as adorable as men calling their yeast infections "jock itch."
— erin whitehead (@girlwithatail) October 7, 2016
Holy shit.
Trump…might have just been defeated by a Bush. Never would've picked Billy, but I'll take it.
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) October 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/BCAppelbaum/status/784496400361029632
https://twitter.com/MikeDrucker/status/784496301312311296
https://twitter.com/kellyoxford/status/784497359115788288
https://twitter.com/thatRamosgirl/status/784499722975412224
https://twitter.com/gourmetspud/status/784499701202780160
Billy Bush has already deleted his Twitter, but this tweet remains.
.@hodakotb and #BillyBush are dancing their way into the weekend! pic.twitter.com/zo0CvhPkBA
— TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) October 7, 2016
(Via the Washington Post)