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Pro Athletes Call Out Donald Trump On Locker-Room Talk

“It’s not normal. And even if it were normal, it’s not right”

 Jon Baum
10.10.16

In Sunday night’s second presidential debate, Donald Trump stuck to his “locker-room talk” explanation of his comments regarding his treatment of women. It’s been his refrain since the release of audio of Trump chatting with Billy Bush when the latter was with “Access Hollywood.”

During the recording, made in 2005 but released last week, Trump talked about women allegedly letting him kiss and grab them because he is famous.

“When you're a star they let you do it,” Trump said. “You can do anything. … Grab them by the p----. You can do anything.”

Trump apologized for using that language while trying to dismiss it as typical locker-room conversation. Professional athletes are taking issue with the characterization asserting that the language Trump used isn’t standard locker-room banter. And even if it were, that wouldn’t excuse bragging about committing sexual assault. Longtime professional baseball player and coach Frank White asserted as much.

Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe added perspective on how players who might engage in that kind of talk typically are perceived, while current NFL tight end Jacob Tamme reinforced what players consider to be “normal” language.

It wasn’t just athletes who took to twitter to lay into Trump’s choice of words. Some in the entertainment industry—along with NBA star Blake Griffin—also pointed out the absurdity of the explanation—often in humorous ways.

Meanwhile, actor and activist George Takei cut right to the heart of the issue.

Bush, now a “Today” co-anchor, has been suspended by NBC. Trump, incidentally, does have experience destroying a professional football league.

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