The news media have had enough time now to grasp that the issue is not that Trump’s remarks were “lewd.” It’s that they were contemptuous, hostile, dehumanizing, and that they boasted of sexual assault.

The BBC for instance.

More senior Republicans have withdrawn support for US presidential candidate Donald Trump after his obscene remarks about women became public.

“Obscene” is not the issue. Pee po belly bum drawers.

One of the Republican support-withdrawers says it when the BBC couldn’t manage to:

New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte said in a statement: “I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women,” she said.

There. It doesn’t take many words. It’s not … Read the rest

CNN has been looking through Trump’s many appearances on the radio show of “shock jock” (i.e. flaming asshole) Howard Stern.

In more than one interview with Stern, Trump took part in conversations about Ivanka Trump’s appearance, including one about the size of her breasts.

In an October 2006 interview, Stern remarks that Ivanka “looks more voluptuous than ever,” and asked if she had gotten breast implants. Trump is willing to engage in the discussion about his own daughter, telling Stern that she did not get implants.

“She’s actually always been very voluptuous,” Trump responds. “She’s tall, she’s almost 6 feet tall and she’s been, she’s an amazing beauty.”

She’s a fine fine hamburger.

In another interview, from September 2004,

McCain has dumped Trump.

John McCain has withdrawn his endorsement of Donald Trump. Notably, McCain explains his decision not by criticizing the language or tone the Trump used in the Washington Post video, but by citing the conduct Trump was describing. McCain does not shy away from calling that conduct “sexual assault.” Here’s McCain’s full statement, which also mentions Trump’s attacks on Judge Curiel, the Khan family, and the Central Park Five:

Trump is belching out so much evil we can’t keep up. There was also the fact that he made a point of telling CNN that the Central Park 5 were too so guilty.

Wading into a racially-charged case from his past, Donald Trump indicated that the “Central Park Five” were guilty, despite [the fact that they were] officially exonerated by DNA evidence decades after a notorious 1989 rape case.

“They admitted they were guilty,” Trump said to CNN in a statement.

“The police doing the original investigation say they were guilty. The fact that that case was settled with so much evidence against them is outrageous. And the woman, so badly injured, will never be the same.”

The

Jonah Goldberg on Twitter:

Annoying responses: 1) All men talk like this (nope) 2) This is an aberration for Trump (nope) 3) No one could have predicted this (nope).

Matthew Yglesias:

It’s too bad for GOP elected officials that there was literally no way they could have known before today that Trump was a gross misogynist.

Ariel Edwards-Levy:

I’m calling for a total and complete shutdown of Donald Trump interacting with women until we can figure out what is going on.

Jonathan Chait:

I am working on a pet theory that Donald Trump is an extremely bad person.

Will Rahn:

BUSH COMPOUND, DECEMBER 2015 — JEB: We must stop Trump. Any ideas?

GWB: Nope

GHWB:

James Hamblin at the Atlantic points out that “graphic” sex talk is a good thing. That’s not what Trump was doing.

The thing about the Republican’s words isn’t that they’re explicit or graphic. It’s that they’re misogynistic, coercive, abusive, and dehumanizing. And as my colleague David Graham notes, illegal: The candidate is describing forcing himself on women, bragging that they’re disinclined to object because of a power structure on which he knowingly capitalizes.

Framing this as lewd, even extremely so, is a reminder of the frequent reluctance to name sexual assault. Explicit conversations are a different thing, a part of life central to mature sexuality.

Precisely. Mutual (in other words consensual) sex talk is a very different thing … Read the rest

The Guardian has a big collection. A yuuuuje collection.

Donald Trump’s apology for the latest in a string of controversial comments about women came as no surprise to the political strategist and fellow Republican Ana Navarro. “He is not fit to be the president, he is not fit to be the Republican nominee, he is not fit to be called a man,” Navarro said on CNN. “How many times does he get away with saying something misogynistic before we call him a misogynist? How many times does he get away with saying something sexist before we acknowledge that he is a sexist? It is time to condemn the man.”

But what about free speech? Heterogeneity of opinion? Vigorous dissent? … Read the rest

Robby Soave at Reason says Trump is no libertarian but a self-entitled authoritarian.

“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful [women]—I just start kissing them,” Trump toldAccess Hollywood‘s Billy Bush, according to an audio tape leaked to The Washington Post on Friday. “It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

Emphasis mine, because, well, you can’t do that. Grabbing an unsuspecting and unwilling person’s genitals is a criminal act of sexual assault under any definition of sexual assault. Trump is evidently proud of the fact that he wielded his wealth and

Trump stayed up late last night to do an “apology” video which briskly morphed into an attack on Bill Clinton, who isn’t running for president. (This is, though, one of many reasons I detest this new idea that relatives of former presidents have an inside track to the office. I have never thought it was a good idea for Hillary Clinton to leverage her husband’s stint as president into her shot at it.) I haven’t watched it yet…and don’t look forward to it.

CNN sums up the current state of play.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, saying he was “sickened” by Trump’s comments, announced Friday night that the GOP presidential nominee would no longer attend a Republican event in Wisconsin

Ashley Judd on Twitter:

I never heard him "apologize" for talking to me & others about his family member's spouse, and especially her breasts. THIS IS WHO HE IS. https://t.co/W9RH1otj0t

— ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) October 7, 2016

 … Read the rest

The Guardian has a live updating page on Trump’s contemptuous rapey remarks about women. An hour ago they posted what Corey Lewandowski had to say:

Even Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager and one of the staunchest supporters of the businessman, has refused to defend the comments.

“Look, I think what this comes down to, and this is not a surprise, is clearly this is not how women should be spoken about. But we’re not choosing a Sunday school teacher.

“And I want to be very clear about this, what we know about Donald Trump this was 12 years ago, this audio tape, and does not reflect or bring to mind the Donald Trump that I’ve spent 18 months

Tomorrow’s Daily News:

… Read the rest

Emily Crockett at Vox on Trump and rape culture.

The Washington Post’s headline describes Trump’s comments as “extremely lewd.” But they’re a lot worse than that.

This may or may not actually be typical “locker room banter” for some men. But one thing is clear: It’s an explicit description of sexual assault.

Whether or not Trump is bragging for effect or machismo, he is saying that he thinks it’s no big deal to grab or kiss a woman in a sexual manner — either by moving too fast for her to consent or resist or by exploiting his power until “they let you do it.”

It is sexual assault to “just start kissing” a woman, much less “grab” her

Le tout Facebook is talking about the Washington Post’s new story about Trump.

They got possession of a video that has Trump talking on a hot microphone.

The video captures Trump talking with Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood” on a bus with Access Hollywood written across the side. They were arriving on the set of “Days of Our Lives” to tape a segment about Trump’s upcoming cameo on the soap opera.

I recommend playing the video to get the full flavor – the laughter, the boasting, the time someone says “it’s good” and you’re not sure if “it” is a woman or not.

The tape obtained by the Post includes audio of Bush and Trump’s conversation inside the bus,

Trump says it’s all a joke,  it’s for laughs, it’s entertainment.

Donald Trump said Wednesday that derogatory statements he has made toward women were all for the sake of “entertainment” and did not reflect his true feelings.

“A lot of that was done for the purpose of entertainment; there’s nobody that has more respect for women than I do,” the real estate mogul told Las Vegas’ KSNV-TV in an interview taped Wednesday ahead of a rally in Henderson, Nevada.

Oh Donald. Donald Donald Donald. Don’t be ridiculous. Of course there’s anybody who has more respect for women than you do. There are billions of people who have more respect for women than you do. Billions. With a B.

Mind … Read the rest