On tape, Trump brags of romantic advances, rebuffs
Recorded in 2005, mogul was chatting on soap opera set.
Donald Trump was caught on tape bragging in vulgar terms about making sexual advances toward a married woman and aggressively kissing and groping other women, and boasting that “when you’re a star they let you do it.”
The recording, unearthed by The Washington Post on Friday, was made in 2005 on the set of a soap opera where Trump was making a cameo appearance. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, was captured on an open microphone that he apparently did not know was recording his conversation with Billy Bush, then the host of “Access Hollywood,” as they sat on a bus.
Trump said Friday that he was sorry if his language offended anyone.
“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 said in a statement. “I apologize if anyone was offended.”
Hillary Clinton seized on her rival’s comments, calling them “horrific.” She said in a Twitter message: “We cannot allow this man to become president.”
Re p u b l i c a n s a l s o c o n - demned Trump’s language.
“No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner,” said party chairman Reince Priebus. “Ever.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan s a i d he i s “s i c kened” by Trump’s comments and that Trump will no longer appear with him at a campaign event in his Wisconsin congressional district today.
During one part of the r e c o r d e d c o nve r s a t i o n , Trump discussed an incident in which his advances were rebuffed by a woman. The conversation was recorded after he was already married to Melania Trump, his third and current wife.
“I moved on her and I failed. I’ll admit it,” Trump says.
He adds, using an obscenit y, that he t r ied to have sex with the woman and acknowledges knowing that she was married.
“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them,” Trump says at one point. “It’s like a magnet.”
He goes on to explain that his celebrity had made such encounters possible.
“And when you’re a star they let you do it,” Trump says. “You can do anything.”
The release of the recording came two days before Trump will face Clinton in the second presidential debate.