Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s lewd comments from a 2005 conversation with “Access Hollywood” then-host Billy Bush have been inescapable since their surfacing by a veteran Washington Post reporter on Friday.
In the video, Trump bragged about moving on a married woman “very heavily” by taking her furniture shopping and commented on her “big phony tits.” Trump also said about beautiful women, “I just start kissing them,” “When you’re a star, they let you do it,” and most infamously “Grab them by the p****.”
Once the video surfaced, the presidential candidate issued an apology in a short video statement saying, “I’ve said and done things I regret, and the words released today on this more than a decade-old video are one of them. Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am.” Trump also apologized during the second presidential debate on Sunday night, referring to his statements as “locker room talk.”
Some students (and possible voters) at the University of Memphis said Trump’s comments do not reflect major topics discussed in locker rooms.
“People are usually to themselves in the locker room and talk about how exercise is used as a stress release,” Ariel Spencer, 24-year-old English major, said.
Spencer also shared her own “biased opinion about Trump.”
“I think he’s very arrogant, but at least he is honest though some of us don’t like it,” Spencer said. “He only cares about people that are like him. I feel like he is forced upon us because we have no one else.”
Kayla Lopez, an 18-year old art major, was specifically against Trump’s actions on the debate. “It was really inappropriate,” Lopez said. “He should be more aware of what’s coming out of his mouth. He’s doing all of this for publicity. While Hillary is running, all they talk about are the emails and the fact that she is a woman. They don’t do that in regards to Trump.”
However, some students said Trump’s comments aren’t that rare to hear in regards to “locker room talk.”
“Yea, it’s like that sometimes with people,” Chris James, a 24-year-old graphic design major, said. “Some guys talk about girls like that since he might have had a good time with the girl. However, Trump shouldn’t have said that. A lot of people said that it’s not the worst thing they’ve heard, or it could have been worse. I personally feel like he shouldn’t have said any of it. Since he is now a politician, he should be held to a higher standard."
Don Johnson, a 27-year-old accounting major, agreed with James about what is typically discussed in locker rooms.
“It’s pretty accurate,” Johnson said. “Some athletes talk about who you are going out with and what’s been going on as far as that side of you, the non-athletic side. I don’t see the issue about what he said. It was 11 years ago, and he didn’t think about it.”
Still, music major Matthew Santos said what he has heard in locker rooms is completely different from Trump’s comments.
“Most people talk about sports or how many laps they ran,” Santos said. “It’s basic conversation. In regards to Donald Trump, he contradicts himself, and he is saying we are allies for Russia, and he then says he knows nothing about Russia. That’s him and his mouth.”
