Donald Trump played damage control Friday after old video and audio recordings emerged of him boasting about trying to have sex with a married women and how the power of celebrity allows him to grope women around him.
The Washington Post unearthed the recordings, which feature Mr. Trump sharing tales aboard a bus with Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood” of how he tried to seduce an unnamed married women by taking her out furniture shopping.
“I moved on her and I failed. I’ll admit it,” Mr. Trump said, using a vulgar word to describe his attempts to have sex with her. “She was married.”
“And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, ’I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture,’” he said.
In a statement, Mr. Trump apologized for the comments, which he apparently made in 2005, and then turned his attention to Bill Clinton, saying the former president and husband of Hillary Clinton shared darker tales with him during their outings together.
“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,” he said. “I apologize if anyone was offended.”
Following the first debate, Mr. Trump and his campaign congratulated him for showing restraint by not bringing up Mr. Clinton’s extramarital affairs — all while teasing the idea that that could change in the second debate Sunday in St. Louis.
In the recordings released Friday, Mr. Trump pontificated about the fringe benefits that go along with the limelight.
“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait,” he said. “And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything.”
“Whatever you want,” someone else says.
Mr. Trump dropped another off-color remark before adding “You can do anything.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.