WASHINGTON—Following on the heels of other troubling revelations that have forced a growing number of Republican leaders to distance themselves from the embattled candidate, a damning video reportedly surfaced Sunday morning showing Donald Trump accepting the GOP nomination for president. “The video that emerged this morning is extremely damaging, as the audio clearly captures Mr. Trump speaking the phrase ‘I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States’—there’s no walking this one back,” said an anonymous GOP official of the incriminating recording from July 2016, admitting that he did not believe anyone in his party could reasonably defend what occurred in the footage. “The video itself is pretty hard to watch, it’s so disturbing. While most of the party’s leadership has long tried to act as if this is all normal, having the physical evidence of him actually saying something like that, it makes it impossible for us to deny the truth about him. We can’t have something this harmful and offensive hanging over our party before an election.” At press time, a chorus of high-profile Republicans was calling on Trump to apologize for and take back his remark.

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