Donald Trump Claims a General Told Him That His Handling of the 'Access Hollywood' Tapes Was Brave

In his speech on Saturday to the New York Young Republican Club, Donald Trump said that his 2016 reaction to the "grab 'em by the p-y" issue was "the bravest thing I've ever seen," according to a "fantastic general." The incident took place during a presidential discussion during that campaign. As reported by Radar Online, just two days after the Access Hollywood video broke, Trump claims the general came up to him and complimented him on his ability to dismiss his obscene statements during the debate with Hillary Clinton as harmless "locker room talk."

Trump said, "A general, who’s a fantastic general, actually said to me, ‘Sir, I’ve been on the battlefield. Men have gone down on my left and on my right. I stood on hills where soldiers were killed. But I believe the bravest thing I’ve ever seen was the night you went on to that stage with Hillary Clinton, after what happened. And then that woman asked you the first question about it.’ And I said, ‘locker room talk!’ It’s locker talk! What the hell?! Locker room talk!" He's alluding to remarks made by Trump in 2005, when he was caught on camera bragging about his fame. At the time, Trump was addressing Billy Bush, the host of Access Hollywood.

Trump's assertion sparked a good deal of trolling postings on X. One user wrote, "Trump doesn’t give speeches. He tells long fake stories that provide an alternate reality in which he’s the hero and allow his audience to conflate themselves with him as he pretends to vanquish imaginary enemies like 'Sleepy Joe' 'Crooked Hillary' 'the Deep State' & 'Fake News'." A second user chimed in, "Most of his fantasies involve stronger, more powerful, more highly-respected men coming to him with tears in their eyes and calling him “Sir.” It’s mind-blowing that his acolytes haven’t caught on to this yet. They probably think Penthouse letters are true fact as well." A third one said, "And this guy is leading the Polls as the next President of the United States?" A fourth one compared Trump to Biden and added, "No General would ever say that to a person who avoided the draft with “bone spurs.” Trump is as bad as Biden with the fake stories. Little difference between the two."

Following its acquisition by NBC News and the Washington Post, the tape was made public during the 2016 presidential election. Trump had just charged Hillary Clinton with cheating on her husband, former President Bill Clinton, at that time. Ironically, Trump acknowledged trying to woo a married lady during the same interview with Billy Bush. As reported by the BBC, he said at the time, "I moved on her actually, she was down in Palm Beach and I failed. I’ll admit it. I did try to f**** her, she was married … and I moved on her very heavily."