donald trump <u+2019>s republican presidential campaign was in damage control late friday after a decade-old recording emerged in which he speaks in crude sexual terms about women. mr. trump quickly apologized for the comments, which included talk about grabbing and kissing women, saying they were <u+201c>foolish.<u+201d> but the recording drew blunt rebukes from both the republican party<u+2019>s top elected official and the head of the gop and didn<u+2019>t sit well with some of mr. trump<u+2019>s evangelical supporters. <u+201c>i pledge to be a better man tomorrow and will never, ever let you down,<u+201d> mr. trump said in a video statement posted on his facebook page after midnight edt on saturday. mr. trump said he regretted saying the things captured in the recording. <u+201c>i was wrong and i apologize,<u+201d> he said. he then switched his focus to former president bill clinton, the husband of his rival, democratic nominee hillary clinton, who he said <u+201c>has actually abused women.<u+201d> <u+201c>we will discuss this more in the coming days,<u+201d> he said. house speaker paul ryan (r., wis.) said he was <u+201c>sickened<u+201d> by the recording and uninvited mr. trump to a campaign event in his state scheduled for saturday. mr. trump said in a statement that he would send his running mate, mike pence, in his place, and instead spend the day in debate preparations. in the 2005 recording, mr. trump said: <u+201c>you know i<u+2019>m automatically attracted to beautiful women<u+2014>i just start kissing them. it<u+2019>s like a magnet. just kiss. i don<u+2019>t even wait.<u+2026> <u+201c>and when you<u+2019>re a star, they let you do it. you can do anything.<u+2026>grab them by the pussy. you can do anything,<u+201d> mr. trump added. mr. trump also referred to a married woman whom he said he tried to seduce: <u+201c>i moved on her and i failed. i<u+2019>ll admit it. i did try and f<u+2014>her.<u+2026><u+201d> <u+201c>i moved on her like a bitch, but i couldn<u+2019>t get there. and she was married,<u+201d> mr. trump said in the recording. <u+201c>then, all of a sudden, i see her, she<u+2019>s now got the big phony tits and everything. she<u+2019>s totally changed her look.<u+201d> <u+201c>no woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. ever,<u+201d> said reince priebus, chairman of the republican national committee, in a written statement. before the evening was out, mr. trump had drawn the opprobrium of other republicans, including former gop presidential rivals marco rubio and ted cruz, several gop senators running for re-election, and former gop presidential nominees john mccain and mitt romney. still, few republicans pulled support from mr. trump. those who did were a trio of utah politicians: gov. gary herbert and u.s. rep. jason chaffetz withdrew their endorsements while former gov. john huntsman called on the nominee to quit the race. two other republican congressmen who hadn<u+2019>t supported trump<u+2014>sen. mark kirk of illinois and rep. mike coffman of colorado<u+2014>called on mr. trump to quit the race. so did rob engstrom, the political director for the u.s. chamber of commerce. <u+201c>there is no gop nominee for president in 2016,<u+201d> mr. engstrom posted on twitter. <u+201c>fundamentally offensive and unqualified.<u+201d> ralph reed, the founder and chairman of the faith and freedom coalition, dismissed the recording as an ancillary issue for religious voters in the election. <u+201c>people of faith are voting on issues like who will protect unborn life, defend religious freedom, defund planned parenthood and oppose the iran nuclear deal,<u+201d> mr. reed said friday. <u+201c>a 10-year-old audio of a private conversation with a television talk-show host ranks very low on their hierarchy of concerns.<u+201d> wayne grudem, a prominent evangelical who has called mr. trump the <u+201c>morally good choice<u+201d> in his race against mrs. clinton, declined to say on friday whether he still supported mr. trump after listening to the recording. <u+201c>let me think about that,<u+201d> he said when reached at his arizona home. jen hatmaker, a christian author who identifies herself as an independent, posted on twitter that mr. trump<u+2019>s behavior on the recording <u+201c>is not just disqualifying & disgraceful, it normalizes sexual assault.<u+201d> still, mr. trump<u+2019>s team, led by pam pryor, a former aide to former alaska gov. sarah palin and now the republican nominee<u+2019>s liaison to evangelical supporters, was phoning religious leaders to gauge support and talk through their public reactions. several of mr. trump<u+2019>s top evangelical supporters said they were appalled by mr. trump<u+2019>s behavior, but it wasn<u+2019>t enough for them to abandon him. <u+201c>i find it disgusting,<u+201d> said tony perkins, head of the conservative family research council. <u+201c>it is troubling, but not a deciding factor.<u+201d> the comments mark a fresh setback for mr. trump, whose derogatory remarks about women, immigrants and others have haunted his campaign. in recent weeks, his feud with a former miss universe over her weight was seen as another stumble for the candidate, who previously publicly criticized a federal judge because of his mexican heritage and the parents of a war hero. the story broke on friday afternoon when the washington post and nbc news reported on the 2005 recording in which mr. trump conversed with television host billy bush as they arrived at a location for mr. trump<u+2019>s cameo on the soap opera <u+201c>days of our lives.<u+201d> robert jeffress, a member of the trump campaign<u+2019>s evangelical advisory board, said the candidate<u+2019>s comments were <u+201c>indefensible<u+201d> but not enough for him to support mrs. clinton. <u+201c>we<u+2019>re all sinners,<u+201d> mr. jeffress, pastor of first baptist church of dallas, said in an interview. <u+201c>this election is not about republican vs. democrat, it<u+2019>s about good vs. evil.<u+201d> the washington post said it believed the video was recorded in september 2005. mr. trump had married his current wife, melania trump, in january of that year. in a statement, mr. trump said: <u+201c>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<u+2014>not even close. i apologize if anyone was offended.<u+201d> mr. bush, the tv host, said: <u+201c>obviously, i<u+2019>m embarrassed and ashamed. it<u+2019>s no excuse, but this happened 11 years ago<u+2014>i was younger, less mature and acted foolishly in playing along. i<u+2019>m very sorry.<u+201d> <u+201c>this is horrific,<u+201d> said christina reynolds, a spokeswoman for mrs. clinton<u+2019>s presidential campaign. <u+201c>we cannot allow this man to become president.<u+201d> the campaign tweeted out that statement as well. a spokesman for her husband, former president clinton, didn<u+2019>t respond to a request for comment. <u+2014>reid epstein contributed to this article. write to michael c. bender at mike.bender@wsj.com and janet hook at janet.hook@wsj.com
donald trump<u+2019>s lewd comments about women spark uproar - wsj
michael c. bender janet hook