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Tape Reveals Donald Trump Bragging About Groping Women Tape Reveals Donald Trump Bragging About Groping Women
(about 1 hour later)
Donald J. Trump was caught on tape bragging in vulgar terms about making sexual advances toward a married woman, aggressively kissing and groping other women, and boasting that “when you’re a star they let you do it.” Using extraordinarily vulgar language, Donald J. Trump boasted in a 2005 conversation about pushing himself on women and kissing and groping them, remarks that were caught on a live microphone and widely circulated on Friday.
The remarkable recording, unearthed by The Washington Post on Friday, was made in 2005 on the set of a soap opera where Mr. Trump was making a cameo appearance. Mr. 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,” with whom he was sitting on a bus. During the exchange, with the television personality Billy Bush of the program “Access Hollywood,” Mr. Trump recalls how he once pursued a married woman and “moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there,” expressing regret that they did not have sex. But he brags of a special status with women: Because he was “a star,” he said, he could “grab them by the pussy” whenever he wanted.
The lewd discussion offers more insight into how Mr. Trump has spoken about women in private and adds to evidence that he has a penchant for sexist behavior. “You can do anything,” Mr. Trump says.
Mr. Trump said on Friday that he was sorry if his language offended anyone. The explosive revelation of his coarse remarks, on the eve of a crucial debate on Sunday against Hillary Clinton, represented a new low for a campaign that had already redefined the standards of political discourse to fit Mr. Trump’s penchant for insults, mocking, threats and demagogic insinuations. A three-minute video clearly capturing Mr. Trump’s voice, and obtained by The Washington Post, ricocheted across social media and cable television and instantly became one of the most powerful weapons yet for Democrats to persuade undecided female voters and others to back Mrs. Clinton.
Republicans in the awkward position of running with the inflammatory Mr. Trump at the top of their ticket were shellshocked on Friday afternoon, and some ducked reporters’ questions in the wake of the revelations. The Republican Party chairman, Reince Priebus, issued a terse statement: “No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. Ever.”
Mr. Trump, in a statement, sought to minimize the lewdness of his remarks — and even implicate Mrs. Clinton’s husband, Bill, in his behavior.
“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,” Mr. Trump said in a statement. “I apologize if anyone was offended.”“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,” Mr. Trump said in a statement. “I apologize if anyone was offended.”
During one part of the conversation, Mr. Trump discussed an incident where his advances were rebuffed by a woman. The conversation was recorded after he was already married to Melania Trump, his third and current wife. But Mr. Trump’s remarks seemed more troubling than boys-will-be-boys banter. He said he was compulsively drawn to kissing beautiful women “like a magnet” — “I don’t even wait” — and talked about plotting to seduce the married woman by taking her furniture shopping. Mr. Trump, who was 59 at the time, went on to disparage the woman, whom he did not name, saying, “I did try and fuck her. She was married,” and, “She’s now got the big phony tits and everything.”
“I moved on her and I failed. I’ll admit it,” Mr. Trump, approaching 60 years old at the time, says. Mr. Trump had already been on the defensive on Friday after telling CNN that he still believed the exonerated defendants known as the Central Park Five were guilty of a 1989 rape of a female jogger despite DNA evidence to the contrary that later overturned their convictions. Earlier in the day, he also asserted, again without evidence, that the Obama administration was allowing illegal immigrants to enter the country in order to vote in November.
Undeterred by her marital status, he adds: “I did try and fuck her. She was married.” The tape was released during what has become a remarkably bad week for Mr. Trump that begin with a New York Times report on Sunday that he had declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a tax deduction so substantial it could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years.
It is not clear whom he was referring to, but Mr. Trump says in very graphic terms that he “moved on” the woman “very heavily,” taking her shopping for furniture as a way to spend time with her. With Friday’s attacks on immigrants, African-Americans and women — remarkable even for Mr. Trump — Democrats wasted no time before pouncing with email and Twitter blasts.
“I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married,” Mr. Trump says. “Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything.” Paul D. Ryan, the House speaker, is scheduled to appear on Saturday with Mr. Trump at a campaign event in the congressman’s district in Wisconsin, but it was not clear late Friday whether that appearance would take place.
Mr. Trump has been aggressively courting Christian conservative voters while making former President Bill Clinton’s history of infidelity an issue in the campaign. The recording could prove damaging to his efforts to seem presidential and could add to his problems appealing to female voters with a month to go before the election. One Republican senator, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, whose re-election prospects this November were damaged when she called Mr. Trump a role model for children this week, said in a statement, “His comments are totally inappropriate and offensive.”
At one point, the conversation in the recording is interrupted when an actress arrives to escort Mr. Trump and Mr. Bush to the set. Mr. Trump’s behavior has at times startled and unnerved women in his life, from employees at his company to the contestants in his beauty pageants, The New York Times found after interviewing dozens of them for an article in May. They described unwanted romantic advances and unending commentary on the female form.
Temple Taggart, Miss Utah in 1997, was uncomfortable with how forward Mr. Trump was with young contestants like her in his first year as the owner of Miss USA, a branch of the beauty pageant organization. As she recalls it, he introduced himself in an unusually intimate manner.
“He kissed me directly on the lips. I thought, ‘Oh, my God. Gross.’ He was married to Marla Maples at the time,” she said. “I think there were a few other girls that he kissed on the mouth. I was like, “Wow, that’s inappropriate.”
Mr. Trump has sought in recent days to make Mr. Clinton’s past extramarital behavior and treatment of women into a campaign issue, calling him “the single greatest abuser of women in the history of politics.” He has also suggested that he might raise Mr. Clinton’s indiscretions at one of the two remaining presidential debates if Mrs. Clinton harshly attacks him.
Mrs. Clinton, who assailed Mr. Trump for his demeaning treatment of women during their presidential debate last week, has not decided whether to use Sunday’s debate to attack Mr. Trump over his latest remarks about women or the Central Park Five. A Clinton spokeswoman called Mr. Trump’s 2005 comments “horrific” and added, “We cannot allow this man to become president.”
Mrs. Clinton’s running mate, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, said in response to the remarks, “It makes me sick to my stomach.” He took the opportunity to advance a Clinton campaign talking point — reminding reporters that Mr. Trump had called women “pigs, dogs and slobs” in the past, as well.
Dawn Laguens, the executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, went even further, suggesting Mr. Trump was musing about committing a crime.
“What Trump described in these tapes amounts to sexual assault,” said Ms. Laguens. “Trump’s behavior is disgusting and unacceptable in any context, and it is disqualifying for a man who is running for president of this country.”
Democrats in competitive races were quick to pounce, too. Gov. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, who is running against Ms. Ayotte, seized on Mr. Trump’s remarks to continue hammering her for saying that Mr. Trump was a role model. (Ms. Ayotte quickly said she misspoke.)
“These vile comments from Donald Trump cannot be excused,” Ms. Hassan said. “It is beyond comprehension how Senator Ayotte could continue to support this man for the highest office in the land, let alone call him a role model.”
Most of Mr. Trump’s closest advisers were engrossed in debate preparations when the story broke. A number of aides had not read it. Among those who had, there were expressions of shock. One aide to Mr. Trump said that it remains to be seen whether this will be worse for the candidate than any of his previous controversies.
Mr. Trump’s aides told him of the Post article just as his debate preparation for the day was wrapping up, according to a person briefed on the discussions. Mr. Trump was played the audio, and acknowledged that he had said those words. His aides were weighing how to address it beyond his initial terse statement.
Republicans who are close to party leaders said this is a potentially fatal moment. Charlie Sykes, a prominent Wisconsin radio host who had Mr. Trump on his show this week, said it was now hugely risky for Mr. Ryan to campaign on Saturday with Mr. Trump.
“That photo-op, that fall fest, is now absolutely toxic,” Mr. Sykes said. “It’s the worst timing. If you are Paul Ryan and you are Scott Walker,” the Republican governor of Wisconsin, “it’s actually hard to imagine a worse circumstance.”
Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist who is opposed to Mr. Trump, said, “This is the moment candidates should use to cut ties with Trump.” Regarding the event in Wisconsin on Saturday, he added, “I recommend Paul come down with a dental emergency tonight.”
The video of Mr. Trump talking to Mr. Bush was filmed as they sat on a bus on the set of a soap opera where Mr. Trump was making a cameo appearance. The conversation was recorded after he had married Melania Trump, his third and current wife. At one point, the conversation in the video was interrupted when an actress arrived to take Mr. Trump and Mr. Bush to the set. Mr. Trump appeared to become aroused by her arrival.
“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them,” Mr. Trump says. “It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.”“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them,” Mr. Trump says. “It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.”
He goes on to explain that his celebrity had made such encounters possible. When Mr. Bush suggests that the actress, Arianne Zucker, give Mr. Trump “a little hug,” Mr. Trump adds that “Melania said this was O.K.”
“And when you’re a star they let you do it,” Mr. Trump says. “You can do anything.” Ms. Trump was pregnant at the time that Mr. Trump’s remarks were filmed in mid-September 2005; their son, Barron, was born the next March.
Mr. Trump then elaborated and added, “Grab them by the pussy.”
The release of the recording comes two days before Mr. Trump will face Hillary Clinton in the second presidential debate.
Mrs. Clinton said on Twitter that the recording was more evidence that Mr. Trump is unfit to lead the country.
“This is horrific,” she said. “We cannot allow this man to become president.”
Mr. Trump’s history of making sexist comments about women has caused him trouble before, but he has largely brushed them off as things he said as an entertainer. The new recording could pose more difficult challenges for the Trump campaign, and Democrats were already pressuring Republicans to disavow Mr. Trump.
“These vile comments from Donald Trump cannot be excused,” said Gov. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, who is running to unseat Senator Kelly Ayotte, a Republican. “It is beyond comprehension how Senator Ayotte could continue to support this man for the highest office in the land, let alone call him a role model.”
Mr. Trump’s comments could also prove difficult for Gov. Mike Pence, his running mate, an evangelical Christian, to defend. And it could make the joint campaign appearance that Mr. Trump has scheduled with Speaker Paul D. Ryan this weekend an awkward affair.
“This is the moment candidates should use to cut ties with Trump,” said Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist. “I recommend Paul come down with a dental emergency tonight.”