By Shaleen Shah, News Staff Writer
The leaked tape where presidential candidate Donald J. Trump made lewd and sexually aggressive comments about women has so far defined his October campaign.
“I am not proud of it. I apologized to my family. I apologized to the American people. But this is locker room talk,” Trump said in response to the lewd tape at the second presidential debate.
The presidential candidate suggested the remarks were casual locker room banter. The tape has evoked growing criticism of Trump’s candidacy from both Republican and Democrat parties.
Unrest in the GOP
House Speaker Paul Ryan denounced Donald J. Trump, stating that he was sickened by the contents of the lewd tape, he confirmed he would not stop endorsing Trump, but he would not continue defending Trump either.
“The speaker is going to spend the next month focused entirely on protecting our congressional majorities,” AshLee Strong, Ryan’s spokeswoman, said in a statement. Ryan has claimed that he is willing to “endure political pressure” to project the party’s majority.
In addition to Ryan, senator John McCain and his wife Cindy McCain have also withdrawn support from Trump.
“Cindy and I will not vote for Donald Trump. I have never voted for a Democratic presidential candidate and we will not vote for Hillary Clinton. We will write in the name of some good conservative Republican who is qualified to be President,” McCain said on an official statement.
In response to the senator’s withdrawal, Trump tweeted on Oct. 11, “The very foul mouthed Sen. John McCain begged for my support during his primary (I gave, he won), then dropped me over locker room remarks!”
Trump responds to the Republican party
Trump, in a series of angry tweets also starting from Oct. 11, accused Ryan of being disloyal and challenged his competency as a house representative. “Our very weak and ineffective leader, Paul Ryan, had a bad conference call where his members went wild at his disloyalty. Paul Ryan should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee,” Trump tweeted.
Michelle Obama reacts
At an Oct. 13 speech in New Hampshire, Michelle Obama responded to Trump’s remarks with strong disapproval.
“We have consistently been hearing hurtful, hateful language about women. This is not something that we can ignore. This wasn’t just locker-room banter. This was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior,” the First Lady remarked, “And to dismiss this as everyday locker-room talk is an insult to decent men everywhere.”
Furthermore, the First Lady expressed concern about the impact Trump’s remarks may have on children, saying that Trump’s language was “so obscene that many of us were worried about our children hearing it when we turn on the TV.”
The First Lady further denounced Trump, suggesting his candidacy reflects poorly on America. “If we have a President who routinely degrades women, who brags about sexually assaulting women, then how can we maintain our moral authority in the world?”
Trump offended by SNL skit
After a provocative Saturday Night Live skit showing a satirical presidential debate between the two presidential nominees called Trump out on multiple occasions for his actions, On Oct. 16 at 7:14 p.m., Trump tweeted, “Watched ‘Saturday Night Live’ hit job on me. Time to retire the boring and unfunny show. Alec Baldwin portrayal stinks. Media rigging election!”
In the skit, Baldwin as Trump demanded that Bill Clinton’s victims of alleged sexual misconduct be given justice. However, when Baldwin (Trump) was asked about justice for his own victims of sexual assault, he bluntly replied that “they need to shut the hell up.”
His Last Debate
The last presidential debate on Oct. 19 was especially heated between the two candidates, and many news outlets assert a victory for Clinton. In response to moderator Chris Wallace’s questioning the viability of his candidacy due to the leaked videos, Trump attempts to divert to Clinton’s March WikiLeaks email scandal and a video released that week from Project Veritas, a conservative activist group, featuring democrat supporters gloating about Trump supporters’ susceptibility to teasing and violence at rallys.
“First of all, the stories have been largely debunked. Those people, I don’t know those people. I have a feeling how they came I believe it was her campaign that did it. Just like if you look at what came out today on the clips where I was wondering what happened with my rally in Chicago and other rallies where we had such violence?” Trump said.
“She mentions this – which is all fiction — all fictionalized — probably or possibly started by her and her very sleazy campaign but I will tell you what isn’t fictionalized are her e-mails, where she destroyed thirty three thousand e-mails criminally criminally after getting a subpoena from the United States Congress.” he said.
