After the Washington Post published a video of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump discussing kissing and groping women without their consent, some of his backers expressed their outrage, while others even withdrew their support.
But some instead decided to come to his defense, offering up a wide range of excuses for the remarks admitting to sexual assault.
Just raunchy talk
One group wrote the comments off as harmless banter.
Former Trump campaign manager and CNN commentator Corey Lewandowski dismissed the tape’s importance because, “We are electing a leader to the free world, we’re not electing a Sunday school teacher.”
On MSNBC, Michele Bachmann, former member of Congress, called Trump’s comments “bad boy talk.”
And the chair of Trump’s Virginia campaign who is also running for governor responded to his candidate’s comments by saying Trump “acted like a frat boy, as a lot of guys do,” adding that people already “knew he wasn’t an angel.”
The co-chair of Trump’s campaign in New York, Carl Paladino, said Trump’s comments were something “ all men do, at least all normal men.”
We all sin
Another group came to his defense by saying we’re all sinners.
When asked for former Republican candidate Ben Carson’s reaction, spokesman Armstrong Williams told BuzzFeed, “People commit adultery. It happens. Ministers. Heads of state. Everyday people. People are human, they do human things. It’s nothing unusual that somebody committed adultery on their spouse. Women do it. Men do it. Should we be shocked by it? No… Hey, the flesh can be weak, my man.”
Sean Hannity, Fox News host, seemed to echo that defense, saying, “King David Had 500 concubines for crying out loud.”
Sean Hannity goes biblical to defend Trump: "King David had 500 concubines for crying out loud" pic.twitter.com/IoKXNFtQ9j
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) October 8, 2016
Then others came up with more creative excuses.
Washington State Republican Party Chairwoman Susan Hutchison argued that they shouldn’t matter now because they “were made when he was a Democrat.”
And Fox host Bill O’Reilly pointed out that the comments were in a “private conversation.”
Anti-Trump forces release a private conversation where Trump talks about women & sex -what happens when you run for POTUS. More on FNC -BO'R
— Bill O'Reilly (@billoreilly) October 7, 2016