VIDEO: Tape shows Trump making lewd remarks

NEW YORK -- Donald Trump said in a a video statement late Friday that he was "wrong" for making lewd comments about women as he waited to make a cameo appearance on a soap opera in 2005.

Still, he claimed the revelations amounted to "nothing more than a distraction" and argued that his words were not nearly as egregious as former President Bill Clinton's extramarital affairs.

The 2005 remarks, made public for the first time Friday, were captured by a microphone that Trump did not appear to know was recording his conversation.

Trump bragged about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women who were not his wife on audio and video recordings done for the television show Access Hollywood and released to The Washington Post and NBC News. The businessman said that "when you're a star, they let you do it," in a conversation with Billy Bush, then a host of Access Hollywood.

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In the one-and-a-half-minute video response, released on the Republican presidential nominee's social media accounts, Trump said the comments "don't reflect" the man he is today.

"I've said some foolish things," Trump said. "But there's a big difference between the words and actions of other people. Bill Clinton has actually abused women."

Turning to his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, Trump accused her of having "bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated" her husband's "victims."

Trump issued a written statement earlier Friday in which he also referred to Bill Clinton.

"This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago," Trump said, adding: "Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course -- not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended."

Members of the Republican Party condemned Trump's 2005 remarks Friday.

"No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner," said party chairman Reince Priebus. "Ever."

House Speaker Paul Ryan said he's "sickened" by Trump's lewd comments and called on him to show respect for women.

"Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified," he said.

Ryan added that Trump was "no longer attending" a joint appearance set for today in Wisconsin, a campaign event that would have been their first together.

Trump's running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, ignored questions shouted by reporters Friday night in Rossford, Ohio, where he was campaigning with his daughter. He made no statement to reporters as his campaign plane left on its return to Indianapolis.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah said late Friday that he has withdrawn his endorsement of Trump. The Republican, who is chairman of the House oversight committee, told a Utah television station that he "can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president."

In a statement released by NBC News, Bush's current employer, Bush said he's "embarrassed and ashamed" by the conversation, adding that he "acted foolishly in playing along." He said he is sorry.

Hillary Clinton seized on her rival's comments, calling them "horrific." She said in a Twitter message, "We cannot allow this man to become president."

But she had her own problems with revelations.

The WikiLeaks website posted what it said were thousands of emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, including some with excerpts from speeches she gave to Wall Street executives and others -- speeches she has declined to release publicly.

The excerpts include Clinton seeming to put herself in the free-trade camp, a position from which she has retreated. In a talk to a Brazilian bank in 2013, she said her dream was "a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders."

Trump strongly opposes current U.S. trade deals and says Clinton is too cozy with Wall Street to overhaul it.

The revelations came two days before Trump and Clinton meet for their second presidential debate on Sunday in St. Louis.

Access Hollywood said a story about Trump's behind-the-scenes comments as star of The Apprentice led it to dig through its archives and turn up the previously un-aired footage from 2005. It was recorded while Trump was on his way to tape an episode of the soap opera Days of Our Lives.

The remarks were recorded months after the reality TV star married his third wife, Melania. He is heard bemoaning that he tried and failed to seduce an unidentified woman, saying, "I moved on her and I failed, I'll admit."

"I did try and f*** her. She was married," Trump said. "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.'"

Trump said he "moved on her like a b***h" and then made a crass remark about the woman's breast implants. Then, after seeing the actress Arianne Zucker on the set of the soap opera on which he was to appear, he said he needed some breath mints "just in case I start kissing her."

"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," Trump said. "And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything."

He added: "Grab them by the p****. You can do anything."

Earlier this week, Trump dismissed questions about his lewd comments toward and about women, telling a television station in Nevada that "a lot of that was done for the purpose of entertainment." He added: "And I can tell you this, there's nobody -- nobody -- that has more respect for women than I do."

After the first presidential debate, Trump came under fire for comments regarding Alicia Machado, the 1995 winner of the Miss Universe pageant that Trump then owned, over her weight.

Trump also bragged in the moments after the first debate and days afterward that he had decided not to raise the matter of Bill Clinton' infidelities. But Thursday night in New Hampshire, Trump said at an event "let's see what happens" when asked if he might do so in Sunday's second debate.

Other controversies

Trump advisers planned for him to spend a quiet Friday preparing for the debate and meeting with border security officials. But the day was quickly consumed by the release of the video and other controversies, including Trump's claim about immigrants in the U.S. illegally voting in the election and his questioning the innocence of five black teenagers exonerated in a 1989 rape case.

In his meeting on border security, Trump said border agents have been told to allow immigrants into the United States illegally "so they can vote in the election." He offered no evidence to support his most recent claim that presidential voting may be tainted by fraud.

"They are letting people pour into the country so they can go ahead and vote," he responded, saying the story would be ignored by the media. He was responding to comments from Art Del Cueto, a vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, who told the candidate that officials in the U.S. are being directed to ignore immigrants' criminal histories and speed up citizenship applications.

After the roundtable at Trump Tower, National Border Patrol Council spokesman Shawn Moran said the discussion between the candidate and the union leader was misleading. Newly admitted immigrants are not permitted to vote, a right that is reserved for citizens.

Trump also weighed in on the "Central Park Five" rape case, in which five black teenagers were convicted in the attack on a 28-year-old white woman jogging through the park in New York City.

In 2002, another man confessed to the crime, and DNA evidence linked him to the crime scene. The five who were convicted received a $41 million settlement from the state of New York in 2014.

In a statement to CNN released Friday, Trump indicated that he still thought the five men, now in their 40s, were guilty.

"They admitted they were guilty," Trump said.

Information for this article was contributed by Jill Colvin, Kathleen Hennessey, Alicia A. Caldwell, Julie Bykowicz, Erica Werner and Alan Fram of The Associated Press.

A Section on 10/08/2016