On October 7, 2016, one month before the United States presidential election, The Washington Post published a video and accompanying article about then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and television host Billy Bush having "an extremely lewd conversation about women" in September 2005. Trump and Bush were on a bus on their way to film an episode of Access Hollywood, a show owned by NBCUniversal. In the video, Trump described his attempt to seduce a married woman and indicated he might start kissing a woman that he and Bush were about to meet. He added, "I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. ... Grab 'em by the pussy. You can do anything."
News of the recording broke two days before the second 2016 presidential debate between Trump, the Republican nominee, and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Trump gave a statement in which he apologized for the video's content, but he attempted to deflect attention by saying that Bill Clinton had "said far worse to me on the golf course". The recording provoked strong reactions by media figures and politicians across the political spectrum. Statements from Republican officials were varied. Some, including Trump's vice-presidential running mate Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, indicated their disapproval of Trump's words but did not renounce their support or call for his resignation from the ticket. Other Republicans, most prominently former presidential nominee John McCain, stated that they would no longer support Trump's presidential campaign, and some called for his withdrawal from the ticket. House Speaker Paul Ryan announced that he would no longer defend or support Trump's campaign, although he did not officially retract his endorsement of Trump. Bush was fired from his position as a host on the Today show, another show owned by NBCUniversal and aired on the NBC television network, and several women made allegations of sexual misconduct against Trump.
The release of the tape was regarded as an "October surprise", influencing public opinion in the weeks before the election. According to a 2020 study, it reduced public support for Trump. However, Trump ultimately won the 2016 election.
Trump was shown the tape during an October 2022 deposition for a civil lawsuit brought by author E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of raping her in 1995 or 1996. In response to questions from Carroll's attorney about whether the statements in the tape were true, Trump replied, "historically, that's true with stars" and "if you look over the last million years, I guess that's been largely true. Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately, or fortunately." The tape was used as evidence during the trial. On May 9, 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation against Carroll and ordered him to pay her $5 million.
Recording
The video was recorded in September 2005 in the NBC Studios parking lot while Trump was preparing to appear in an episode of the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives. Access Hollywood, a syndicated entertainment news program owned by NBCUniversal, conducted a behind-the-scenes interview with Trump about the guest appearance in which Trump and Bush arrived in a tour bus for the Access Across America series of segments produced in commemoration of the program's 10th season. It features audio of Trump talking with Billy Bush, then co-anchor of Access Hollywood, on a bus embellished with the show's name. Trump and Bush were wearing microphones, which recorded their casual conversation. Trump was later described as "apparently aware at the time that he was being recorded by a TV program".
According to an Access Hollywood spokesperson, there were seven other people on the bus: a camera crew of two, the bus driver, the show's producer, a production assistant, Trump's security guard, and Trump's public relations representative. Upon arriving at the lot, the camera crew was let off the bus so they could record Trump and Bush disembarking and meeting with Arianne Zucker, who portrayed Nicole Walker on the soap opera and appeared alongside Trump in the episode in which he guest starred.
Contents
In the video, Trump tells Bush about a failed attempt to seduce Nancy O'Dell, who was Bush's co-host at the time (circa 2005) of the recording:
Later, referring to Arianne Zucker (whom they were waiting to meet), Trump says: