Well, Donald Trump’s microphones aren’t always broken. He’s just not always aware that they’re on.

  Unfortunately, this means that the American people along with the rest of the world had to hear him brag about sexually assaulting women.

  Last week, a video was leaked that included an exchange between Trump and TV host Billy Bush in 2005. As their bus pulled into the set of “Days of Our Lives,” viewers can overhear the two chatting. Trump shared his experience of unsuccessfully attempting to seduce an unidentified married woman.

  But it gets worse. After commenting on the appearance of Arianna Zucker, the actress waiting outside the bus to escort them, Trump proceeded to discuss how he gets away with groping and harassing women because of his status as a celebrity.

  “I just start kissing them…I don’t even wait,” Trump said. “And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the p****. You can do anything.”  

  Arguably worse than these vulgar statements is the apology he issued via YouTube the day after the tape surfaced. He began defensively, claiming, “I’ve never said I’m a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I’m not.” He goes on to say that what he said was wrong and he apologizes, and that he has changed since then.

  But he does not fail to sprinkle excuses throughout the speech. He dismissed the significance of the conversation by emphasizing that it occurred more than 10 years ago and called it a “distraction from the important issues we’re facing today.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZNghcHbaM&feature=youtu.be

  Mr. Trump, sexual assault is an important issue we’re facing today.

  Every two minutes, an American is sexually assaulted, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network website. One of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. And 94 percent of women who have been raped experience post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms for two weeks following the incident, while approximately 70 percent of rape or sexual assault victims experience moderate to severe distress.

  For Trump to label his crude, aggressive remarks – which he delivered as a grown man, even a decade ago – as “locker room banter” is not only disgusting and highly inappropriate, but downright terrifying.

    This may be the man that ends up running our country.

  That’s not to say that the Clintons are angels, with several accusations of rape and sexual misconduct against Bill Clinton and Hillary’s protection of him, consisting of supposedly silencing the victims. Both of our presidential nominees are contributing to the stigma surrounding sexual assault and the victim-blaming tendencies of our society.

  The positive outcome of all of this is the much-needed conversation about sexual assault.     Unfortunately, the negative is one these politicians is our future leader, whether we like it or not.