Tape reveals Trump boast about groping women

[chahlley]

(World Today Saturday 8 October 2016)

Tape reveals Trump boast about groping women

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pauses during a meeting

with members of the National Border Patrol Council at Trump Tower,

Friday, Oct. 7, 2016, in New York. Photo: AP

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By Patrick Healy AND ALAN RAPPEPORT -

-

Published: 12:10 PM, October 8, 2016

NEW YORK — Donald Trump faced extraordinary censure from Republican leaders on Friday night (Oct 7), with House Speaker Paul Ryan withdrawing his invitation to appear alongside him this weekend, after the disclosure of a 2005 recording of Mr Trump speaking in vulgar terms about pushing himself on women.

Mr Ryan described himself as “sickened” by Mr Trump’s remarks.

Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, went a step further than many elected Republicans, issuing a statement late Friday night calling on Mr Trump to express contrition — and potentially offering other Senate Republicans cover to disavow the nominee if he refuses to apologise.

“As the father of three daughters, I strongly believe that Trump needs to apologise directly to women and girls everywhere, and take full responsibility for the utter lack of respect for women shown in his comments on that tape,” said Mr McConnell.

While neither Mr Ryan nor Mr McConnell immediately withdrew their formal support for Trump, Republican leaders in Washington held anguished discussions throughout the evening about how the party should proceed with a badly wounded and potentially toxic nominee. They cannot remove their nominee from the ticket, though some hoped that Mr Trump would decide on his own to step down.

Meanwhile, at Trump Tower, the candidate and his jolted advisers debated whether he should take further action to try to undo the damage from the tape, according to a person briefed on the discussions who was granted anonymity to describe internal deliberations. Mr Trump did not recall making the comments initially, and sought assurance from aides that the story would pass, but they were candid that the tape was a grave and potentially catastrophic problem.

In the three-minute recording, which was reported by The Washington Post, Mr Trump recounts to the television personality Billy Bush of the program Access Hollywood, how he once pursued a married woman and “moved on her like a b****, 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 said, he could “grab them by the p****” whenever he wanted.

“You can do anything,” Mr Trump says.

Mr Trump, seeking to minimise the importance of the disclosure despite the public rebuke by Mr Ryan, announced late Friday evening that he would no longer travel to Wisconsin as planned, and would send his running mate, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana, in his stead. Mr Trump said he would spend Saturday preparing for his second debate with Mrs Hillary Clinton, set to take place Sunday in St Louis.

People in contact with Mr Trump’s inner circle described the campaign as being in a state of paralysis, as top aides held a conference call lasting over an hour to discuss their options. Several Republicans outside the campaign said they had been unable to reach Mr Trump’s team even in the midst of a critical moment for the entire party.

Mr Trump has not yet elaborated on his first, dismissive response to the recording, in which he described it merely as “locker room banter” and “a private conversation that took place many years ago”.

Mr Trump, who has repeatedly attacked and mocked Mrs Hillary Clinton’s marriage in recent weeks, even sought to implicate Mr Bill Clinton in his coarse conduct.

“Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course — not even close,” Mr Trump said in a statement. “I apologise if anyone was offended.”

It is unlikely that such a terse and even grudging statement of regret will be enough to stabilise Mr Trump’s candidacy. The disclosure of the audio tape comes at the end of a punishing two weeks, during which Mr Trump has faced intense backlash over his treatment of women and intensifying scrutiny of his personal finances and views on national security.

Mrs Clinton’s campaign condemned Mr Trump forcefully for the comments captured on the recording. Her running mate, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, said in response to the remarks, “It makes me sick to my stomach.”

More Republicans joined in the denunciation, including Governor Gary Herbert of Utah, who had said this summer he would vote for Mr Trump.

“Donald Trump’s statements are beyond offensive & despicable,” Mr Herbert wrote on Twitter. “While I cannot vote for Hillary Clinton, I will not vote for Trump.”

Mr Mitt Romney, the former presidential candidate who has vocally opposed Mr Trump, spoke out again to rebuke Mr Trump on Friday night.

“Hitting on married women? Condoning assault? Such vile degradations demean our wives and daughters and corrupt America’s face to the world,” Mr Romney said.

Mr Trump had already been on the defensive Friday after telling CNN that he still believed the exonerated defendants known as the Central Park Five were guilty of a 1989 rape of a female jogger despite DNA evidence to the contrary that later overturned their convictions. Earlier in the day, he also asserted, again without evidence, that the Obama administration was allowing immigrants to enter the country illegally in order to vote in November.

And also in the last week, The New York Times reported that Mr Trump had declared a US$916 million (S$1.3 billion) loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a tax deduction so substantial it could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years.

With Friday’s attacks on immigrants, African-Americans and women — remarkable even for Mr Trump — Democrats wasted no time before pouncing with email and Twitter blasts.

One Republican senator, Ms Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, whose re-election prospects this November were damaged when she called Mr Trump a role model for children this week, said in a statement, “His comments are totally inappropriate and offensive.” Ms Ayotte, one of the most prominent women in the party, was facing immense pressure Friday night from other Republicans to disavow Mr Trump entirely, and was said to be considering it.

Another Republican to turn his back on Mr Trump on Friday was Mr Jon M Huntsman, the former governor of Utah, who just a week ago said he planned to vote for Mr Trump. He told The Salt Lake Tribune that the nominee should withdraw from the race.

“In a campaign cycle that has been nothing but a race to the bottom — at such a critical moment for our nation — and with so many who have tried to be respectful of a record primary vote, the time has come for Governor Pence to lead the ticket,” Mr Huntsman told the newspaper.

Mr Trump’s behaviour has at times startled and unnerved women in his life, from employees at his company to the contestants in his beauty pageants, The Times found after interviewing dozens of them for an article in May. They described unwanted romantic advances and unending commentary on the female form.

Ms Temple Taggart, Miss Utah in 1997, was uncomfortable with how forward Mr Trump was with young contestants like her in his first year as the owner of Miss USA, a branch of the beauty pageant organisation. As she recalls it, he introduced himself in an unusually intimate manner.

“He kissed me directly on the lips. I thought, ‘Oh, my God. Gross’. He was married to Marla Maples at the time,” she said. “I think there were a few other girls that he kissed on the mouth. I was like, ‘Wow, that’s inappropriate’.”

Democrats in competitive races were quick to pounce on the Friday report. Governor Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, who is running against Ms Ayotte, seized on Mr Trump’s remarks to continue hammering her for saying that Mr Trump was a role model. (Ms Ayotte quickly said she misspoke.)

“These vile comments from Donald Trump cannot be excused,” Ms Hassan said. “It is beyond comprehension how Senator Ayotte could continue to support this man for the highest office in the land, let alone call him a role model.”

Ms Dawn Laguens, the executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, went even further, suggesting Trump had discussed committing a violent crime.

“What Trump described in these tapes amounts to sexual assault,” said Ms Laguens. “Trump’s behaviour is disgusting and unacceptable in any context, and it is disqualifying for a man who is running for president of this country.”

The recording of Mr Trump talking to Mr Bush was made as they sat on a bus on the set of a soap opera where Mr Trump was making a cameo appearance. The conversation was recorded after he had married Mrs Melania Trump, his third and current wife. At one point, the conversation in the video was interrupted when an actress arrived to take Mr Trump and Mr Bush to the set. Mr Trump seemed excited.

“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them,” Mr Trump says. “It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.”

Mrs Melania Trump was pregnant at the time that Mr Trump’s remarks were filmed in mid-September 2005; their son, Barron, was born the next March. NEW YORK TIMES