Trump Makes Lewd Comments about Women in 2005 Tape

WASHINGTON – The Washington Post on Friday disseminated a 2005 video clip in which Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is heard describing a failed attempt to seduce a married woman and boasting that his celebrity status allowed him to grope women.

Trump made the comments in an off-camera exchange with Billy Bush, then the host of the television program “Access Hollywood,” as the two men were aboard a tour bus headed to the set of a soap opera that was to feature the millionaire in a cameo appearance.

The conversation, which was captured by a microphone attached to the real estate mogul’s lapel, occurred several months after Trump had married his third and current wife, Melania.

Trump, who was 60 at the time, shared with Bush a story about an unsuccessful bid to seduce a woman he identified only by her first name.

“I moved on her and I failed. I’ll admit it. I did try and f--k her. She was married,” Trump said. “I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there.”

Subsequently, Trump notes the presence outside the bus of an actress.

“Whoa!” he says. “I’ve gotta use some Tic-tacs, just in case I start kissing her. 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.”

“And when you’re a star, they let you do it,” Trump says. “You can do anything ... grab them by the p---y. You can do anything.”

The Republican candidate responded to the disclosure of the tape by offering a rare apology.

“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,” Trump said in a statement.

The tape emerged just two days before Trump is to face Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the second of three scheduled debates.

“This is horrific. We cannot allow this man to become president,” Clinton said Friday on Twitter.