NEW YORK (AP) – Donald Trump blurted out lewd and sexually charged comments about women as he waited to make a cameo appearance on a soap opera in 2005. The Republican presidential nominee issued a rare apology Friday, “if anyone was offended.”
Trump bragged about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women who were not his wife on recordings obtained by The Washington Post and NBC News. The celebrity businessman boasted “when you’re a star, they let you do it,” in a conversation with Billy Bush, then a host of the television show “Access Hollywood.”
The remarks were captured by a live microphone that Trump did not appear to know was recording their conversation.
In a statement released by his campaign, Trump said: “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.”
By early Friday evening, the condemnation began to arrive from points across the Republican Party. “No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner,” said party chairman Reince Priebus. “Ever.”