Trump says he’s staying in, admits to making crude remarks about women

World Today

Donald Trump campaignRepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a town hall. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

U.S. Presidential candidate, Donald Trump refuses to leave the race after more than a dozen Republican lawmakers have called on him to do so.  This comes after revelations on Friday that Trump made crude comments about women — caught on tape in 2005.  Trump’s wife, Melania, and his running mate, Mike Pence, have condemned his remarks. 

 

“The words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me. This does not represent the man that I know. He has the heart and mind of a leader. I hope people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world, ” said Melania Trump in a statement on the campaign’s website.


Trump tried to head off some of the damage by issuing an earlier statement apologizing “if anyone was offended” by vulgar remarks captured on a 2005 tape and made public Friday.

Early Saturday morning, he issued a more lengthy video apology. View it here:

 

In the 2005 recording, obtained by The Washington Post and NBC News, Trump describes trying to have sex with a married woman and brags about women letting him kiss and grab them because he is famous.

“When you’re a star they let you do it,” Trump says. “You can do anything.”

He adds seconds later, “Grab them by the p—-. You can do anything.”

The one-sentence response from the head of Trump’s Republican Party was devastating.

“No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. Ever,” said Reince Priebus, who had stood by Trump through his past provocative comments.

Other Republicans, painfully aware of the possible impact on their own political fates, were quick to chime in. New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who is locked in a close race, called the comments “totally inappropriate and offensive.”

Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, was “beside himself” and his wife was furious, according to a person familiar with their thinking. That person spoke on the condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to share the private discussion.

In public, Pence ignored questions shouted by reporters in Rossford, Ohio, where he was campaigning with his daughter.

“Access Hollywood” said an Associated Press story about Trump’s lewd behind-the-scenes comments as star of “The Apprentice” led it to dig through its archives and turn up the previously un-aired footage from 2005. It was recorded during a bus ride while Trump was on his way to tape an episode of the soap opera “Days of Our Lives.”

Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, seized on Trump’s quotes, calling them “horrific.” She said in a Twitter message: “We cannot allow this man to become president.”

The revelations come two days before Trump and Clinton are to meet in Sunday’s second presidential debate, with the Republican urgently in need of a strong performance. After his uneven showing in the first contest, public opinion polls have showed Clinton pulling ahead in nearly all battleground states, some of which are already in the midst of early voting.

There were plenty of other problems for Trump on what surely was one of the worst days of his two-year drive for the White House.

His advisers planned for him to spend a quiet Friday preparing for the debate and meeting with border security officials. But the day was quickly consumed by a series of controversies, including Trump’s unsubstantiated claim about immigrants in the U.S. illegally voting in the election and his questioning the innocence of five black teenagers exonerated in a 1989 rape case.

The unearthed video of Trump’s 2005 comments can hardly help with female voters.

On the tape, Trump is caught on a live microphone while talking with Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood.” The candidate is heard saying “I did try and f— her. She was married.” He also uses graphic terms to describe the woman’s body and says he frequently tries to kiss beautiful women.

In a statement after the tape was revealed, Trump called his comments “locker room banter” and a “private conversation that took place many years ago.”

“Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course — not even close,” he said. “I apologize if anyone was offended.”

Trump was to appear at an event Saturday in Wisconsin alongside Priebus and House Speaker Paul Ryan, a lukewarm supporter. Ryan has disinvited Trump to the event.

Story by the Associated Press and CCTV America.