Corey Lewandowski on Trump sex comments: 'We're electing a leader, not a Sunday school teacher'

Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump's former campaign manager, defended his ex-boss on Friday after a video tape emerged showing the Republican nominee making crude and sexually aggressive comments about women.

“We are electing a leader for the free world, we’re not electing a Sunday school teacher,” Lewandowski told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in a phone interview following the Washington Post's publication of the tape. Lewandowski is a paid contributor for the network, but until recently was also receiving severance payments from the Trump campaign. He reportedly signed a non-disparagement agreement with Trump upon his exit.


“I think what this comes down to, and this is not a surprise, is clearly this is not how women should be spoken about. But we're not choosing a Sunday schoolteacher here, and I want to be very clear about this,” Lewandowski said.

He continued, “What we know about Donald Trump, this is 12 years ago, this audiotape. It does not reflect or bring to mind the Donald Trump I spent 18 months with traveling. I never heard anything like this out of him.

"And so, you know, let me say, we're electing a leader," Lewandowski repeated. "We are electing a leader for the free world, we’re not electing a Sunday schoolteacher.”

In the tape released on Friday, Trump can be heard speaking with television personality Billy Bush. He brags about aggressively kissing beautiful women, suggesting he does it against their will, saying, “I don’t even wait.” He also said that he grabs them by their genitals. “And when you’re a star, they let you do it,” he says in the clip, which was filmed during an episode of “Access Hollywood."

"Are his words perfect?" Lewandowski said of Trump. "Absolutely not. Is this defensible? I don't think so,” he said.

Despite the tape, Lewandowski said, “I believe Donald Trump is still the best candidate to reverse the downward spiral the nation is in right now.”

He urged Trump to "sit down and have an interview, do it tonight, do it with a serious journalist. Get the issue out in front of you. Make sure that you answer the tough questions right now," and suggested NBC anchor Matt Lauer.