I joined Mona Charen of National Review and Danielle Belton, manager editor of The Root on NPR to discuss the leaked video of Donald Trump.
Transcript:
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Now it’s time for the Barbershop. That’s where we gather a group of interesting folks to talk about what’s in the news and what’s on their minds. Sitting in the chairs for a shape-up this weekend are here in studio with me in Washington, D.C., Mona Charen, syndicated columnist and a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, conservative commentator Gayle Trotter. She hosts the podcast right in D.C. From Radio Foundation in New York Danielle Belton, managing editor of The Root.
I think you know what we want to talk about. Both campaigns have stories involving leaked materials, but we have to start with the video posted by The Washington Post last night where Donald Trump is making vulgar comments about women. We have a clip that we can play, but you – as you would imagine, it has been edited. We bleep some of the sound. It still contains inappropriate language. Here it is.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DONALD TRUMP: I moved on her, and I failed. I’ll admit it.
BILLY BUSH: Whoa.
TRUMP: I did try and [expletive] her. She was married.
MARTIN: So Donald Trump released a statement saying he regrets the comments he made in the video. Gayle, I’m going to start with you.
GAYLE TROTTER: Sure. We didn’t learn anything new yesterday. These are intemperate remarks. We already knew that the candidate is vulgar and boastful, but I think the real question in looking at this is to understand why this campaign is different, why 2016 is different because this would have probably been disqualifying in any other year. But we look at who he’s running against and we have to ask ourselves why is Hillary Clinton so disliked and distrusted that someone like Donald Trump can be running neck and neck with her?
MARTIN: I think the question I really have with you, Gayle, is I know that you are a person of faith. I know that you are a mother of six kids. I know that you care a lot about the culture and the environment that you are raising them in, so I think the question that a lot of people would have is you support him. How is it that you can support him given that he is so far out of alignment with what you otherwise espouse and believe in?
TROTTER: Right. Because no one is trying to make him pope. No one is trying to put him up for sainthood. I think sin is equally distributed against the political parties, and I believe that Donald Trump will not weaponize the federal government against nuns, bakers, candlestick-makers. So the difference comes down to policy between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and that’s why I think this tape that was released yesterday, even though it’s, you know, catnip for media, it’s not going to change people’s opinions about him because they’ve already factored into that his character in deciding in this binary choice who they’re going to choose.
MARTIN: And it hasn’t changed your opinion more to the point?
TROTTER: It changed my opinion in what way?
MARTIN: You’re still going to support him.
TROTTER: I support his policy positions. . . . (read the rest)
