Billy Bush Opens Up About Donald Trump’s Sexist Comments Caught On Tape

Billy Bush recently opened up about the controversial tape featuring Donald Trump’s sexist comments that was made public last year.

In the New York Times op-ed piece that he wrote on Sunday, Bush reiterated the fact that the tape was real. “He said it, ‘Grab ‘em by the [expletive].’ Of course he said it,” Bush wrote.

Trump recently claimed that the tape was fabricated, but when it first came out last year, the president apologized for his language and dubbed the conversation as “locker room talk.” The 71-year-old also denied claims of sexual misconduct.

Bush, 45, left “Today” after his conversation with Trump from 2005 surfaced recently. In the tape, Trump made lewd comments about groping women and having sex with them. “And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything,” Trump said in the tape.

At that time, Bush worked as a co-anchor on NBC’s “Access Hollywood,” and Trump was a star on “The Apprentice.” He admitted that have a direct link to Trump boosted his career. However, the benefits were short-lived.

“My segments with Donald Trump when I was just a correspondent were part of the reason I got promoted. Was I acting out of self-interest? You bet,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, Bush also expressed his support to all of the women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct. Kristen Anderson previously told The Washington Post that Trump reached under her skirt and touched her private part. She later on shoved the man’s head and saw that it was Trump.

Rachel Crooks, Jessica Leeds, Jill Harth and Nastasha Stoynoff have also come forward with their own sexual harassment stories by the president. In his op-ed piece, Bush said that he understands what it’s like to be associated with Trump.

“To these women: I will never know the fear you felt or the frustration of being similarly dismissed and called a liar, but I do know a lot about the anguish of being inexorably linked to Donald Trump. You have my respect and admiration. You are culture warriors at the forefront of necessary change,” he wrote.