Donald Trump Jr. says lewd conversations about women are ‘a fact of life’

Donald Trump Jr. speaks during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Tuesday, July 19, 2016. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Donald Trump Jr. speaks during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

This week, amid warnings of voter fraud and refusal to agree to accept the outcome of the election unless he is the winner, Donald Trump seemed to have finally shifted national attention away from the leaked 2005 recording of his lewd remarks about women and the accusations of sexual assault and misconduct that have followed in its wake.

That was, until his son weighed in.

In an interview with Seattle-based conservative talk radio host Dori Monson Friday, Donald Trump Jr. said that conversations like the one in which his father has described his penchant for groping and kissing women without their consent are “a fact of life.”

“Obviously, he’s not happy about that,” Trump Jr. said of his father’s language on the tape, which sparked a small stream of revoked endorsements from prominent Republicans followed by a wave of sexual assault and misconduct allegations after it was released to the public earlier this month.

“We all know guys that have had conversations with other guys that go a little bit in that direction,” he continued. “That’s a fact of life.”

The “fact of life” defense seems in line with Trump’s own argument that his comments, while inappropriate, amounted to nothing more than “locker-room banter.”

The White House hopeful has continued to double down on this defense in the face of mounting accusations from women who’ve come forward in recent weeks claiming that they were subjected to precisely the type of unwanted touching and kissing Trump is heard describing in the tape.

As he announced to the country during this week’s final presidential debate, “I didn’t even apologize to my wife … because I didn’t do anything.”

The candidate and others in his corner, such as Dr. Ben Carson, have also made a point of noting that the now-infamous conversation took place more than a decade ago, in an effort to suggest that the candidate has changed since then. His eldest son, however, assured Monson on Friday that Trump “is still very much like that.”

In fact, Don Jr. suggested, his father’s crass talk is exactly why “I think he’s able to relate to ordinary Americans.”

“He hasn’t spent his whole life sitting there polishing every statement he has ever made, every conversation he has ever had,” said Trump Jr. “He doesn’t run a focus group so he can tell you what he is thinking. He speaks from the heart.”

And while he said his dad “recognizes that” the 2005 video “was a mistake,” the younger Trump argued that his father is “able to make mistakes because he hasn’t spent his whole life trying to be a politician.”