By Sophia Franco
Managing Editor of Features
On Friday, an explosive new video in which presidential candidate Donald Trump made lewd comments about women put the him under heavy fire, with only one month to go before the election.
The 2005 video for Access Hollywood, showed Trump speaking to reporter Billy Bush about making a pass at a married woman and being able to “grab [women] by the pussy” without repercussion because he’s a “star”.
In the immediate aftermath of the video’s release, FiveThirtyEight reported that “17 Trump-supporting GOP officials had rescinded their support; and 19 called on him to quit the race altogether”. Among the six senators who took back their endorsement was Kelly Ayotte, a New Hampshire senator who had just recently been criticized for calling Trump a “role model”.
Past presidential hopeful Mitt Romney tweeted a condemnation of Trump, writing “Hitting on married women? Condoning assault? Such vile degradations demean our wives and daughters and corrupt America’s face to the world”. The most biting rejection may have come from House Speaker Paul Ryan, who disinvited Trump from a GOP rally in Wisconsin.
Hitting on married women? Condoning assault? Such vile degradations demean our wives and daughters and corrupt America’s face to the world.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) October 8, 2016
On Friday evening, Trump released a video on Facebook apologizing for his words, a rare action for the Republican candidate. Several pundits and party leaders both Democrats and Republicans have already jumped on the video, questioning Trump’s sincerity. Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist slammed Trump on CNN, saying, “That took 10 hours?”
In the clip, Trump quickly pivots to attacking Hillary and her husband, Bill Clinton, who has had allegations of sexual assault brought against him in the past. According to The New York Times, one Trump advisor warned prior to the release that if the apology mentioned Hillary, “it would fail”. And fail it did. Many have called the video a non-apology, angry that what was his chance to repent was instead used to attack his opponent.
Putting aside the fact that the video was sloppily done with a poorly rehearsed script delivered in a stiff emotionless voice, one thing that stood out was Trump’s claim that “Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am”. This statement is unequivocally false.
It isn’t as though this is the first time Trump’s been criticized for his comments about women. Trump previously stated that Clinton, a woman, did not have “the presidential look”. From Rosie O’Donnell to Megyn Kelly to Alicia Machado to even his own daughter, Ivanka, Trump has repeatedly shown his enjoyment in insulting, objectifying, and shaming women. All apologies ring hollow in the face of his long history of sexism.
It’s true, the video is a decade old, but the fact of the matter is that Trump is a blatant sexist. That hasn’t changed since 2005 and there seems to be no evidence it will in the foreseeable future. As a woman and as a moral human being, I cannot accept any excuse that Trump has changed his ways. He simply hasn’t. Time and time again when given the chance to turn himself around, he has chosen not to.
This video only confirmed what women have been saying about Trump all along: that he is a misogynist. That’s why I would hope that top Republicans cut all ties with Trump, not because I wish to see Hillary win, but because I, along with other women, simply cannot be proud to live in a country where sexism is considered presidential.
