Aaron Blake
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Donald Trump issued a more-extensive apology late Friday night for a newly unearthed video of him talking in graphic and lewd terms about trying to have sex with a woman, among other topics.
And given the fact that we're headed for a debate in a little more than 36 hours — and given Trump is still only kind-of apologizing, while also using the opportunity to start attacking the Clintons for Bill Clinton's behavior — it's likely the video will be a significant focus of the questioning at the debate and afterward.
It's not clear whether Trump will answer reporters' questions before the debate. He was apparently disinvited from an appearance with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) on Saturday.
But there remain plenty of big questions. And if and when Trump does get these questions — at the debate or otherwise — here's what he should be asked.
1. Did he actually pursue a married woman?
While Trump's comments are lewd, there is also the fact that he said he was pursuing a woman he admitted was married.
“And I moved on her very heavily in fact,” he said. “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 took her out furniture. I moved on her like a b---h, but I couldn’t get there, and she was married.”
This is a pretty detailed story — taking the woman furniture shopping — for Trump to have made it up whole-cloth. Did Trump know the woman was married when he "moved on" her? Does or did he often do this?
2. Was he married to Melania Trump at the time?
Trump told the story at a time when he was married to Melania Trump. They married in January 2005, and the video appears to have been shot around Sept. 16, 2005, according to The Post's David Fahrenthold.
Trump also alludes in the video to Melania being "okay" with him kissing and hugging other women when he greets them.
But was the particular story he tells about pursuing a woman about a time when he was also married to Melania Trump, or dating her? The two married in 2005 but met in 1998.
Trump's history of infidelity is well-documented, and this certainly invites questions about whether it continued.
3. How often does he talk like this?
Trump said in his apology that "anyone who knows me knows these words don't reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize."
But the Associated Press recently recent reported on employees of his NBC reality show, "The Apprentice," saying Trump often spoke in very similar terms during the production of that show. From the AP's report Monday:
In his years as a reality TV boss on "The Apprentice," Donald Trump repeatedly demeaned women with sexist language, according to show insiders who said he rated female contestants by the size of their breasts and talked about which ones he'd like to have sex with.
...
Eight former crew members recalled that he repeatedly made lewd comments about a camerawoman he said had a nice rear, comparing her beauty to that of his daughter, Ivanka.
...
Randal Pinkett, who won the program in December 2005 and who has recently criticized Trump during his run for president, said he remembered the real estate mogul talking about which female contestants he wanted to sleep with, even though Trump had married former model Melania Knauss earlier that year: "He was like 'Isn't she hot, check her out,' kind of gawking, something to the effect of 'I'd like to hit that.' "
The Trump campaign issued a full denial in response to the AP report. "These outlandish, unsubstantiated, and totally false claims fabricated by publicity hungry, opportunistic, disgruntled former employees, have no merit whatsoever," Trump spokesman Hope Hicks said at the time.
But the behavior described in the AP report is very similar to the behavior we now see with our own eyes on the newly unearthed video. The claims of the people the AP talked to don't seem very "outlandish" anymore.
Stories like this have a tendency to snowball, and Trump has been wearing a microphone for a large portion of the past few decades. If he spoke like this frequently, now would be a good time to say so.