TheCable

Although it happened 11 years ago, Donald Trump’s brag in vulgar terms about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women has come back to haunt him, weeks before the presidential election.

According to a video obtained by The Washington Post, Trump was caught on a hot microphone during a 2005 conversation, saying: “When you’re a star, they let you do it”

In the tape, a part of which was audio and another video, Trump was talking with Billy Bush, then of “Access Hollywood,” on a bus with the show’s name written across the side, as they were arriving on the set of “Days of Our Lives” to tape a segment about Trump’s cameo on the soap opera.

The tape was recorded several months after he married his third wife, Melania.

“I moved on her, and I failed. I’ll admit it,” Trump is heard saying as he discusses a failed attempt to seduce a woman, whose full name is not given in the video.

“Whoa,” another voice said.

“I did try and f— her. She was married,” Trump replied, before adding: “And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, ‘I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture’.

“I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look.”

At that point in the audio, Trump and Bush appeared to notice Arianne Zucker, the actress who was waiting to escort them into the soap-opera set.

“Your girl’s hot as s—, in the purple,” said Bush, now a co-host of NBC’s “Today” show.

“Whoa!” Trump himself said. “Whoa!”

“I’ve got to use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her,” he added.

“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.

“And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”

“Whatever you want,” says another voice, apparently Bush’s.

“Grab them by the p—y,” Trump says. “You can do anything.”

After sharp criticism by Republican leaders, Trump issued a short video statement offering apologies.

“I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize,” he said. “But this is a distraction from the issues we are facing today.”

He said that his “foolish” words were much different than those and actions of Bill Clinton, whom he accused of abusing women, and Hillary Clinton, whom he accused of having “bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims”.

“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. I apologize if anyone was offended.”

“I’ve never said I’m a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I’m not.

“I’ve said and done things I regret, and the words released today on this more than a decade-old video are one of them. Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am.

“We will discuss this more in the coming days. See you at the debate on Sunday.”

Bush, in a statement released by NBC Universal, said: “Obviously I’m embarrassed and ashamed. It’s no excuse, but this happened 11 years ago — I was younger, less mature, and acted foolishly in playing along. I’m very sorry.”

After the video appeared online Friday afternoon, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton wrote on Twitter: “This is horrific. We cannot allow this man to become president.”

Her running mate, Tim Kaine also told reporters: “It makes me sick to my stomach.”