Donald Trump Apologizes, Says He Won’t Withdraw from Race for Lewd Remarks

From: Towleroad

Donald Trump issued a taped apology shortly after midnight Friday night saying he regrets making the vulgar statements heard in a three-minute recording from 2005 published by the Washington Post (above).

The NYT reports:

In the three-minute recording, which was obtained by The Washington Post, Mr. Trump recounts to the television personality Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood” 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 says, he could “grab them by the pussy” whenever he wanted.

“You can do anything,” Mr. Trump says.

He also 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 he made the remarks, went on to disparage the woman, whom he did not name, saying, “I did try and fuck her. She was married,” and saying, “She’s now got the big phony tits and everything.”

Trump released a statement shortly after the remarks emerged dismissing them as “locker room banter:”

“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. I apologize if anyone was offended.”

Hillary Clinton responded:

Women have the power to stop Trump.https://t.co/tTgeqy51PUhttps://t.co/VH3woeAf9Q pic.twitter.com/NjvbkPsjPR

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 7, 2016

Then, after it became obvious that this was a much bigger issue for him, Trump released a statement shortly after midnight Friday night apologizing for the remarks.

Here is my statement. pic.twitter.com/WAZiGoQqMQ

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2016

Said Trump in the video statement:

“I’ve never said I’m a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I’m not. I’ve said and done things I regret and the words released today on this more than a decade old video are one of them. Anyone who knows me knows these words dont reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong and I apologize. I’ve traveled the country talking about change for America but my travels have also changed me. I’ve spent time with grieving mothers who have lost their children, laid-off workers whose jobs have gone to other countries, and people from all walks of life who just want a better future. I have gotten to know the great people of our country and I’ve been humbled by the faith they’ve placed in me.

“I pledge to be a better man tomorrow and will never, ever let you down. Let’s be honest: we’re living in the real world. This is nothing more than a distraction from the important issues we’re facing today. We’re losing our jobs, we’re less safe than we were eight years ago and Washington is totally broken. Hillary Clinton and her kind have run our country into the ground. I’ve said some foolish things but there’s a big difference between the words and actions of other people. Bill Clinton has actually abused women and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims. We will discuss this more in the coming days. See you at the debate on Sunday.”

However, a flippant tweet Trump posted Saturday morning suggests he isn’t sorry at all.

Certainly has been an interesting 24 hours!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2016

The remarks sparked outrage, as well as calls for the candidate to step aside.

Trump told the Washington Post on Saturday morning there’s no chance he will drop out:

“I’d never withdraw. I’ve never withdrawn in my life,” Trump told The Washington Post in a phone call from his home in Trump Tower in New York. “No, I’m not quitting this race. I have tremendous support.”

“People are calling and saying, ‘Don’t even think about doing anything else but running,” Trump said when asked about Republican defections. “You have to see what’s going on. The real story is that people have no idea the support. I don’t know how that’s going to boil down, but people have no idea the support.

The NYT blasted him in an op-ed from the Editorial Board:

The tape was made “many years ago,” Mr. Trump noted in his statement on Friday. It was made in 2005. He was then 59 years old. It would be hard for anyone to argue that the man he was then is not the man he is now.

Mr. Trump also noted that Bill Clinton had “said far worse to me on the golf course.” Who knows if that is true, and why should anyone care? Mr. Clinton is not running for president, and, at least until now, Republican politicians have not treated his private behavior as the standard by which they should be judged.

We elect our presidents in the hope that they will do their best for us, including to try — whatever their flaws and ours — to represent the best in us. There is no such hope for Donald Trump.