WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump issued an apology on Friday after the release of a video in which the Republican presidential candidate was recorded on an open microphone in 2005 talking in vulgar terms about trying to have sex with women.
"This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course - not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended,” Trump said in a statement released by his campaign.
The video, released in a Washington Post story (http://wapo.st/2dSk1nD), was recorded while Trump was speaking with TV host Billy Bush of "Access Hollywood" while they were about to tape a segment about a planned cameo appearance by the New York businessman on the soap opera "Days of Our Lives," the Post reported.
Trump has faced repeated criticism for his comments about women, most recently involving his attacks on a former beauty queen with a vague and unsubstantiated allegation about a sex tape in predawn Twitter posts that prompted Democratic rival Hillary Clinton to denounce him as "unhinged."
(Reporting by Eric Walsh)