The Trump campaign released a statement this evening saying the whole conversation was private between television personality, Billie Bush and Trump, although it was recorded by the “Access Hollywood” crew Trump was with inside a studio bus.
The tape was somehow acquired by the Washington Post, reports Slate, and that action alone is raising some eyebrows in many newsrooms, especially with the timing of the release of the video, just two days before the second Presidential debate. But the tape has been widely circulated.
The shocking language and clear reference to sexual assault against women spoken by Trump is downright lewd and very demeaning when he talks about pushing himself on women and kissing and groping them.
TMZ says that Trump had recently married Melania when the incident on the tape occurred on a bus near the “Days of Our Lives” set. He was talking in graphic terms about how easy it was for stars like himself to seduce women, although he uses a more vulgar term, saying, “Grab them by the p***y. You can do anything.”
In the aftermath of the tape’s release, many high-ranking Republicans have been burning up the Internet, tweeting their distaste and outright revulsion over Trump’s apparent comments on sexually assaulting women. Hilary Clinton jumped right in, tweeting, “This is horrific. We cannot allow this man to become president.”
The one thing that is most evident is that Donald Trump has redefined our political system with his outright, off the cuff and sometimes vulgar remarks over everything from Mexicans to Muslims to African-Americans and everything in between. But he has continually made it clear that as far as he is concerned, women can be called pigs, slobs, and fat, as he described one woman recently.
Paul D. Ryan, the House speaker, was scheduled to appear on Saturday with Trump at a campaign event in Wisconsin, but while watching CNN this evening, it was announced that Ryan had officially “dis-invited Donald Trump to the event.” In other words, Trump was told to stay away.
Mr. Trump has tried to make Bill Clinton’s trysts in the White House with Monica Lewinsky part of his campaign ammunition against Hillary Clinton, calling Bill Clinton, “the single greatest abuser of women in the history of politics.” He has even threatened to bring up the sexual indiscretions of Mr. Clinton in the final two presidential debates.
But it’s plain to see that right now, Trump is now more worried about his tarnished image, seeing as he has shot himself in the foot. And in Trump Tower, they’re burning the midnight oil, trying to figure out how to drag the Donald out of this mess.
