Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

‘Access Hollywood’ Reminds Trump: ‘The Tape Is Very Real’

A still image from a 2005 video in which Donald J. Trump was recorded having a lewd conversation with Billy Bush, top left, an “Access Hollywood” host.

The tape, without question, is real.

The famed recording of Donald J. Trump making vulgar comments about women while filming a segment for “Access Hollywood,” which was first reported by The Washington Post roughly a month before last year’s presidential election, figured prominently in the final stretch of the race. Its authenticity wasn’t challenged at the time.

But Mr. Trump suggested to a senator earlier this year that the tape was not authentic, The Times reported on Saturday, and he recently repeated that contention to an adviser.

The claim does not hold up to scrutiny.

“Let us make this perfectly clear: The tape is very real,” Natalie Morales, an “Access Hollywood” host, said during Monday’s broadcast. “Remember his excuse at the time was ‘locker room talk.’ He said every one of those words.”

Hours after the tape was published last October, Mr. Trump directly acknowledged that it was genuine.

“I said it, I was wrong and I apologize,” he said in a video recording.

Video
bars
0:00/1:28
-0:00

transcript

Trump Responds in 2016 to Outrage Over Comments

In a statement, Donald J. Trump said that vulgar remarks he made in an “Access Hollywood” tape in 2005 about women “don’t reflect” who he is.

N/A

Video player loading
In a statement, Donald J. Trump said that vulgar remarks he made in an “Access Hollywood” tape in 2005 about women “don’t reflect” who he is.

Here is the relevant portion of the transcript.

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 don’t 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’ve 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.

Asked on Monday if the president now questioned the authenticity of the tape, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said that Mr. Trump had “made his position on that clear.”

“The president hasn’t changed his position,” she said. “I think if anything that the president questions, it’s the media’s reporting on that accuracy.”

It begins with audio of Mr. Trump speaking with Billy Bush, the former “Access Hollywood” host, on a bus. In the section that attracted the most attention, Mr. Trump referred to kissing women and grabbing them by their genitals without their consent.

Mr. Trump: Yeah, that’s her. With the gold. I better 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. You can do anything.

Mr. Bush: Whatever you want.

Mr. Trump: Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.

Video
bars
0:00/3:02
-0:00

transcript

Donald Trump’s Lewd Comments About Women

In a 2005 recording obtained by The Washington Post before the presidential election, Donald J. Trump talks about women in vulgar terms to Billy Bush, then the host of “Access Hollywood.”

na

Video player loading
In a 2005 recording obtained by The Washington Post before the presidential election, Donald J. Trump talks about women in vulgar terms to Billy Bush, then the host of “Access Hollywood.”CreditCredit...Mark Makela for The New York Times

Here is the full transcript.

After the recording was published, Mr. Bush was fired from his job on the “Today” show. He has since apologized and said he hopes to return to television.

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT