Paul Ryan's last tweet was about protecting victims of sexual assault

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

On Friday afternoon, The Washington Post released audio of Donald Trump discussing women with then-Access Hollywood host Billy Bush in 2005. In the conversation — which you can listen to here — Trump tells Bush about how when it comes to beautiful women, he's "like a magnet," and sometimes he just starts kissing them. "I don't even wait," Trump is heard saying. "And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything."

Trump issued a statement Friday dismissing his conversation as "locker room banter," though he did apologize if anyone took offense. But many have been quick to point out that his comments describing how he interacts with women are mighty close to the definition of sexual assault:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Kimberly Alters

Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.