In an interview Sunday night with WABC radio host Rita Cosby, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. claimed to have sources telling him that certain GOP establishment figures were behind the leak of the 2005 tape showing Donald Trump making lewd sexual comments about women. "It might have even been a conspiracy," Falwell said.



"I'm hearing something of substance, and it's disappointing," he said when pressed for evidence.



"I think a lot of the establishment Republicans have been conspiring together for the last six weeks or more," he continued. "And I think this was all a plan.”



“I think this whole tape... video tape thing was planned, I think it was timed, I think it might have even been a conspiracy among establishment Republicans who have known about it for weeks and who tried to time it to do the maximum damage to Donald Trump, and I just... I just think it just backfired on them."



He continued: "I'm not going to name any names, I've got some independent information, but I'm not going... I'm not going to reveal it on the air - but I think some of the establishment folks who reluctantly endorsed him had this planned all along as a way to slither out of the endorsement, and I think it backfired on them, and I'm glad to see that.”



"It wasn't a coincidence that it came out right before Trump was supposed to appear with Paul Ryan at a rally, and it conveniently gave Paul Ryan a way to disinvite Trump," he added.



About the tape, Falwell said: "Nothing he says on that tape was defensible, and I'm not going to try to defend it. It was just a horrible thing. But he apologized, he was contrite about it, he moved on to the issues, which is what the American people care about."