Donald Trump was recorded on a hot mic talking about trying to have sex with a married woman, saying “when you’re a star, they let you do it,” according to a 2005 video obtained by The Washington Post.
House Speaker Paul Ryan announced Friday night that Donald Trump would no longer attend a Republican event in Wisconsin on Saturday in the aftermath of lewd and sexually aggressive comments that surfaced.
“I am sickened by what I heard today. Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified,” Ryan said in a statement. “I hope Mr. Trump treats this situation with the seriousness it deserves and works to demonstrate to the country that he has greater respect for women than this clip suggests. In the meantime, he is no longer attending tomorrow’s event in Wisconsin.”
Trump released a statement that he would be spending Saturday pin preparation for Sunday’s presidential debate with GOP Chairman Reince Priebus.
In 2005, Trump was riding in an “Access Hollywood” bus with host Billy Bush, heading to the set of “Days of Our Lives” to talk about Trump’s cameo on the show.
“I moved on her actually, she was down in Palm Beach and I failed, I’ll admit it,” Trump says in the beginning of the video. “I did try to f*** her, she was married … and I moved on her very heavily.”
The recording was made several months after Trump’s wedding with Melania, according to the paper.
“I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture and I told her ‘I’ll show you where you can get some nice furniture,'” Trump is heard saying. “I moved on her like a b****, and I could not get there, and she was married. And all the sudden I see her and she’s got the big phony tits, she’s totally changed her look.”
Trump, who has been heavily criticized during the presidential debates for comments about women, tells Bush, “You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.”
“And when you’re a star they let you do it,” Trump says. “You can do anything.”
“Whatever you want,” says someone else, possibly Bush.
“Grab them by the p****,” Trump says. “You can do anything.”
In a statement, Trump addressed the recording, saying:
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. I apologize if anyone was offended.
“No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. Ever,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in a brief statement.
Billy Bush said in a statement, “Obviously, I’m embarrassed and ashamed. It’s no excuse but this happened eleven years ago – I was younger, less mature, and acted foolishly by playing along. I’m very sorry.”
Journalists covering a Toledo, Ohio, campaign stop by Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, were ushered out of a restaurant soon after the story broke. The press was supposed to cover Pence looking at a wall of signed hot dogs, including one by Trump, but were later told they couldn’t record the moment.
A campaign staffer later told CNN the decision had “nothing to do with the news.”
He declined to answer a question about the matter when asked by a reporter following a campaign event in Rossford, Ohio.
A close adviser to Trump told CNN the story is “flat out appalling” and at this point, they can’t even begin to guess whether Trump can come back from this.
“This should have never happened. I wish it had never happened. I think I know that men talk this way sometimes, but it’s nothing I would ever want to hear or condone or approve of,” the adviser said. “My reaction is — it’s appalling. It’s just flat out appalling.”
The adviser also said Trump’s apology does not go far enough.
“Doing anything other than to say it was a grievous error and he apologizes would be a mistake,” the adviser said. “I would take it a step further and own to the words as being offensive — not ‘if.'”
The adviser, clearly exasperated, added: “Another day in Trump world … I hate it.”
Asked about the reaction at a campaign field office, a Trump field staffer told CNN there were “gasps. Collective gasps. We’re trying to get our heads around it right now, but there’s no way to spin this. There just isn’t.”
The staffer, who is also paying close attention to Senate efforts, also added, unsolicited: “Just think of the down-ballot effect. Brutal.”
A GOP operative in Ohio voiced similar sentiments.
“This is bad. I think this thing is over,” the staffer said.
Reached for comment, a top battleground state staffer told CNN he was “picking (his) chin off the floor.”
“We want every suburban woman’s vote in America. This doesn’t help with that,” the staffer said.
And a Trump campaign source said they were “dumbfounded,” saying the remarks “could be a death knell.”
The source had no predictions on how the article will impact the race, saying the next two days will be critical.
“I think the next 48 hours will be the most consequential of the entire election. Right here, right now, this is game time,” the source said.
One senior Trump adviser said simply, “Ugh.”
