Donald Trump’s blatant, shameless debate-night lying about what he said in 2005 was perfect fodder for an ad, and the Clinton campaign moved on that right away. All they had to do was cut together the debate footage with the 2005 hot mic footage:
Cooper: You described kissing women without consent.
Trump 2016: No, I didn’t say that at all. I don’t think you understood what was said.
Trump 2005: 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 2016: This was locker room talk.
Cooper: Grabbing their genitals.
Trump 2005: Grab them by the [censored]. You can do anything.
Trump 2016: … locker room talk.
Trump 2005: And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.
Trump 2016: No, I didn’t say that at all. I don’t think you understood what was said. This was locker room talk.
The ad ends with, “If he believes this is locker room talk, how can we believe he’s sorry?” There are so many layers of noxiousness here. Trump thinks he has apologized. Doubtless he feels aggrieved at having been forced to do so. But he didn’t just lie—though he certainly lied. He also showed that he doesn’t understand or acknowledge what was wrong about the actions he bragged about so gleefully in 2005.
Really, the question is not just “How can we believe he’s sorry?” The key question is: do we believe he doesn’t still think the exact same way? Watch the ad below.
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