Then-candidate Trump was concerned the Republican Party "could force him off the ticket or hold a vote to expel him" over the awkward tape, spread roughly a month before Election Day.
Conway, a former top White House adviser, and Trump campaign manager recalled an urgent meeting with her then-boss over the audio in her upcoming memoir “Here’s The Deal.” A copy was obtained by the Daily Beast.
“Should I get out [of the race]?” Conway recalled Trump asking her on October 8, 2016, a day after the decade-old tape was published.
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The ex-adviser told him that he “actually can’t” drop out “unless you want to forfeit and throw the whole damn thing to Hillary.”
Trump ended up losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton but swept the race with an Electoral College victory.
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"What do you mean, I can't?" Trump is described as "firing back" at Conway.
She reportedly reasoned that it was too late to quit because early voting had already begun.
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“I know you don’t like to lose...but I also know you don’t like to quit,” Conway recalled telling Trump in the Sunday excerpt.
She said he asked: “Will I lose? Will we lose? Can we still win?”
Conway’s account claimed she tore into Trump himself over the October 2016 Access Hollywood tape, calling his comments “disgusting” and “reprehensible” despite defending them on television at the time.
The meeting reportedly took place in Trump Tower - not in the former real estate executive’s office, but rather “around the corner from the elevator landing on the 24th floor,” according to the Beast.
Trump’s reported uncertainty about his ultimately successful presidential bid is a stark contrast to his public comments that same day.
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The Republican told the Wall Street Journal that there is “zero chance I’ll quit” and “I never, ever give up” on October 8, even as he privately asked Conway if he should do so.
He also posted to his now-suspended Twitter account: “The media and establishment want me out of the race so badly - I WILL NEVER DROP OUT OF THE RACE, WILL NEVER LET MY SUPPORTERS DOWN!”
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On October 7, 2016, hot mic audio from a conversation with host Billy Bush features Trump boasting: “You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful—I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the p***y. You can do anything.” It was first reported by the Washington Post.
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