Rape Culture Is Running for President

The Washington Post leaked audio and video of Trump claiming he could sexually assault people because he is famous. Nate Gowdy

Hey! If you want to make yourself queasy, go listen to this leaked hot-mic recording of Donald Trump talking to Access Hollywood's Billy Bush in 2005.

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Trump has said some pretty rancid things about women, but he recently dismissed those comments as stuff he says for "entertainment value." Surprise! Turns out he's also repugnant in private.

The exchange was recorded while the two were en route to the set of Days of Our Lives, where Trump was going to film a cameo. Much of their conversation makes the blood boil, including the way Billy Bush plays along, laughing and encouraging the Apprentice host. One of the nastiest bits happens when Trump, after spotting actress Arianne Zucker, says he needs to eat some Tic-Tacs in the event of uncontrolled, non-consensual kissing:

"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," Trump said.

He continued: "And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything.... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

Anything, he says. It's like a magnet, he says. These comments place Trump practically on the brink of admitting to sexual assaulting people and being allowed to do so because he is famous.

Watch how Billy Bush encourages Zucker to embrace Trump, then slimes himself all over her. As they walk through the soundstage, the two men flanking Zucker, Bush pushes the soap star to choose which of them she would take on a date: "Seriously," says Bush, "you had to take one of us on a date."

Zucker, forced to be diplomatic—my god, do women ever have to learn to be diplomatic—chooses both.

Trump blew the story off with this statement:

“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,” Trump said in a statement. “I apologize if anyone was offended.”

Of course! The "boys will be boys" excuse, followed by a non-apology.

Jezebel posted a video, which I'm unable to embed here, cutting audio from the Billy Bush conversation with with an interview of Ivanka Trump, responding to questions about her father's treatment of women, saying "He's not a groper. That's not who he is."

Neither Access Hollywood nor NBC have commented on the recording, but Billy Bush deleted his Twitter account:

Billy Bush goes *poof* pic.twitter.com/f8TST6CgwQ

— Boooooo Hagh 👻 (@BobHagh) October 7, 2016

h/t to Sydney for the headline.