When Donald Trump Jr. Defended His Father's Crass 'Locker Room Talk' as a 'Fact of Life'

Defending his father, Donald Trump Jr. once labeled Donald Trump's misogynistic tirade during the 2016 'locker room talk' scandal, as a 'fact of life'. As per CNN, while appearing on KIRO radio 97.3’s Dori Monson Show, Donald Jr. addressed the unaired 2005 Access Hollywood shoot recording: “Obviously he’s not happy about that, but I think we probably all know guys who have had conversations with other guys that go a little bit in that direction, that’s a fact of life. I think he’s able to relate to ordinary Americans because in many cases he is still very much like that. He does do that. He hasn’t spent his whole life sitting there polishing every statement he’s ever made, every conversation he’s ever had.”

Labeling the comment a 'mistake,' Donald Jr. added, “He doesn’t run a focus group so he can tell you what he’s thinking...He speaks from the heart, that one is obviously — that was a mistake, he recognizes that. He realizes it, but he’s able to make a mistake because he hasn’t spent his whole life just trying to be a politician.”

As per People, Monson, a long-time supporter of the business tycoon-turned-politician, argued that the remarks were still difficult for him to process. “I’m not asking you to explain away your dad, but I wrestle with that because I like your dad personally...I’m the father of three daughters — who are all in their 20s — and if I heard somebody talking around my girls like we heard on the Access Hollywood [tapes], it’d be done for me.”

As per Politico, a few days before Donald Sr. and Hillary Clinton's scheduled presidential debate, the audio recording was leaked by The Washington Post. Interestingly, during the debate, the GOP candidate defended himself by taking a dig at Hillary's husband. “If you look at Bill Clinton, far worse. Mine are words and his was action. His was — what he’s done to women, there’s never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that’s been so abusive to women.”

Although he acknowledged making the comments and apologized for them, the real estate mogul still insisted that they were just 'locker room talk.' He downplayed the gravity of his remarks, adding, “Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course.” 

Furthermore, during the latest hush money trial, key witness Michael Cohen addressed the 'locker room talk' scandal. As per ABC News, Cohen claimed he grew extremely worried about the potential effects of the tape on Donald Sr.'s presidential campaign. "This was going to be significantly impactful, especially with women voters," he stated. 

"He [Donald Sr.] wanted me to reach out to all of my contacts in the media -- we needed to put a spin on this. And the spin that he wanted to put on it was that this is locker room talk," Cohen testified. He claimed that the ex-president had proudly admitted that the idea to spin it so was suggested by his wife, Melania Trump, 'to get control over the story and minimize its impact.'