‘Access Hollywood’ is adamant that a recording of Donald Trump boasting about grabbing women by the genitals is real after the President reportedly expressed doubts over the tape’s authenticity.
‘Let us make this perfectly clear. The tape is very real,’ host Natalie Morales said alongside Kit Hoover on the show Monday.
‘Remember his excuse at the time was ‘locker-room talk.’ He said every one of those words.’
Natalie Morales (left) said alongside Kit Hoover that the infamous Access Hollywood tape is authentic
The comments were in response to reported denials by the President that it was not him on the tape (Pictured: President Trump November 21, 2017)
The response came after The New York Times reported over the weekend that Trump told a senator earlier this year that the voice on the infamous 2005 recording wasn’t his and repeated the claim to an adviser more recently.
Just weeks before the 2016 election, an audio recording of Trump surfaced where he is heard telling ‘Access Hollywood’ host Billy Bush: ‘When you’re a star … you can do anything … grab them by the p***y.’
Trump admitted to making the crude comments after the surfaced shortly before the 2016 presidential election (Pictured: Billy Bush February 11, 2016)
Trump had acknowledged it was him on the tape and apologized for his actions in the hours after the comments were made public in October 2016 during the election campaign. He described the comments as ‘locker-room talk’ between men.
Meanwhile, the actress who greeted Donald Trump after he made the now infamous remarks said it is ‘puzzling’ how he can now doubt the recording’s authenticity.
Arianne Zucker told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday that she couldn’t see how the 2005 tape could be fake after Trump reportedly told aides that is not an authentic recording.
‘I don’t know how else that could be fake unless someone’s planting words in your mouth,’ she said.
‘How do you apologize for something and renege on it? It’s puzzling to me.’
Zucker had been filming the Access Hollywood segment in 2005 with Trump and Billy Bush. The pair had left their mics on when Trump started boasting about sexually assaulting women.
The White House clarified Monday that Trump isn’t contesting the authenticity of the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape, saying ‘The president hasn’t changed his position.’
‘The president addressed this, this was litigated and certainly answered during the election by the overwhelming support for the president and the fact he’s sitting here in the Oval Office today,’ White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters.
Arianne Zucker, who greeted Donald Trump after he made the now infamous remarks, was ‘puzzled how he can now doubt the recording’s authenticity (pictured: September 10, 2017)
Zucker had been filming the Access Hollywood segment in 2005 with Trump and Billy Bush