Jessica Wade
COPY EDITOR
Donald Trump has called Mexicans rapists and drug dealers, insulted a prisoner of war, suggested a ban on all Muslims entering the United States and has disrespected women on numerous occasions.
Despite all the vulgar remarks and competing against 15 other Republicans for the nomination, Trump somehow managed to become the Republican presidential nominee. The line drawn by his supporters of what is and isn’t acceptable seemed to be all encompassing, but the tape that was revealed to the public Oct. 7 has caused many Republicans to abandon Trump. He had finally crossed that line.
The vulgar video, filmed in 2005, captures Trump talking with Billy Bush, who at the time worked for Access Hollywood. The presidential nominee discussed grabbing a woman’s genitalia and attempting to have sex with her.
“I’ve got to use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her,” Trump said in the video. “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.”
Republicans began withdrawing their support soon after the video surfaced, including House Speaker Paul Ryan. Ryan released a statement saying that he could no longer support or defend Trump and will rather, “spend the next month focused entirely on protecting our congressional majorities.”
Trump retaliated by urging his supporters not to vote for the deserting Republicans.
Trump later released a statement apologizing for the video, and he then went on to say that the tape was simply “locker room talk” and “a distraction from the issues we are facing today.”
He’s correct; the tape is a distraction, because his entire campaign has been a distraction from the significant issues facing the United States.
The tape provided plenty of ammo for Hillary Clinton to launch during the second presidential debate, but Trump came with his own arsenal. Women who have ac-cused Bill Clinton of rape and harassment were invited by Trump to the debate.
“If you look at Bill Clinton, far worse. Mine were words, and his was action” Trump said during the
debate. “What he’s done to women, there’s never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that’s been so abusive to women.”
Despite his plan to shift the focus off of his own sexual misconduct, Trump failed to outrun the mistakes he’s made over the course of his campaign.
The second of three presidential debates turned into a contest of who could dig up the most dirt on their opponent, or, rather, their opponent’s spouse.
