Washington Post releases graphic audio of Trump discussing women in 2005
Back in 2005, Donald Trump was riding aboard a bus with then-Access Hollywood host Billy Bush en route to the set of the soap opera Days of Our Lives, on which Trump was scheduled to make a cameo. And in audio obtained by The Washington Post and released Friday, Trump apparently carried on quite a vulgar conversation with Bush, discussing a failed attempt to seduce an unnamed woman before launching into an extremely lewd description of romance while famous.
"I moved on her and I failed. I'll admit it," Trump says of the unnamed woman, apparently caught on a hot microphone while aboard the bus. "I did try and f--k her. She was married. ... I moved on her like a b---h, but I couldn't get there." Trump then goes on to insult the woman's physical appearance before Bush cuts in, saying, "Sheesh, your girl's hot at s--t!" apparently referring to actress Arianne Zucker, who was waiting to greet the men when they arrived to the soap's set.
"I better use some Tic Tacs in case I start kissing her," Trump says, with the sound of mints rattling in a box audible in the background. "I'm automatically attracted to beautiful— I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. ... And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. ... Grab them by the p---y." The audio was apparently recorded in September 2005; in January of that year, Trump married his third wife, Melania.
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In a statement Friday, Trump dismissed the conversation with Bush as "locker room banter," adding: "Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course. I apologize if anyone was offended." The Post released the video footage where the audio was captured, which shows the Access Hollywood bus rolling into the lot and Trump and Bush exiting it and being greeted by Zucker — watch the whole thing here.
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Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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