GOP Republican nominee Donald Trump was caught on tape bragging about groping and attempting to have sex with married women — and said he was entitled to do so because he’s a “star”. The audio represents an extraordinary level of vulgarity that is likely to sink Trumps candidacy just days before his second presidential debate with Hillary Clinton.
“I don’t even wait,” he boasts, as he talks about groping at women’s genitals.
“And when you’re a star they let you do it,” Trump says to Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood” in a clip from 2005 that was first published by the Washington Post late on Friday. “You can do anything.”
“Whatever you want,” an off-camera voice that appears to Bush replies.
“Grab them by the pu••y,” Trump says. “You can do anything.”
The hot mic episode broke just over 48 hours before the next presidential debate and immediately sent political shockwaves across the nation.
Democrats quickly condemned Trump for casually joking about sexual assault — even for a candidate who seized the Republican nomination through his proud embrace of political incorrectness.
“This is horrific,” Hillary Clinton said on Twitter. “We cannot allow this man to become president.”
Trump reacted quickly and defensively, offering a non-apology — “I apologize if anyone was offended” — and tried to shift the focus elsewhere. “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,” Trump claimed.
In Ohio, the reporters covering Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, at a restaurant were immediately instructed to return to the press bus after the news broke and were not permitted to film him leaving the restaurant. Pence’s team insisted that was normal procedure.
Listen to Trump’s remarks in the video below.
