Giuliani: Republicans Should Accept Trump’s Apology

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani condemned Donald Trump’s leaked comments from 2005 about women as “horrible” and “reprehensible” Sunday but chastised Republicans for lacking the party loyalty of Democrats and calling on all Americans to consider their country’s future when they vote.

Giuliani, a vocal Trump surrogate, bluntly expressed his disgust over the GOP nominee’s lewd comments, in which he spoke of pursuing a married woman in a pre-interview tape for “Access Hollywood” in 2005. The tape first surfaced in The Washington Post on Friday.

“So [Trump] said some very bad things 10 or 12 years ago. He’s apologized for it. And it seems to me we should move on.”

Giuliani asked Republicans to follow in the Democrats’ footsteps and rally behind their nominee despite the scandal.

“My reaction was the same, I’m sure, as everyone else’s. It’s horrible. It’s reprehensible. You wish it never happened, never was said,” Giuliani said on ABC News’ “This Week,” adding that Trump is rightfully embarrassed and has expressed his remorse.

Giuliani also admitted that the advances Trump was describing in the tape would constitute “sexual assault,” although he said it was unclear from the audio alone how much was just bluster.

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“That’s what he’s talking about. You know, whether it happened or not, I don’t know. And how much exaggeration was involved in that, I don’t know,” Giuliani said. “I do know there’s a tendency on the part of some men at different times to exaggerate things like this. And I’m not in any way trying to excuse it or condone it.”

“But you know, that was then and this is now,” Giuliani said. “And [Trump’s] gone through 14 months of running for president. And, as you know, running for president does something to you. It changes a lot of the way you look at things, it changes a lot of the way in which you behave. And it puts a heavy responsibility on your shoulder — in this case, for roughly half the American people, who believe that he’s the one who can change America and his opponent is the person who will keep it the same or make it worse.”

Giuliani pointed toward Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, noting that she, too, was hit by scandalous revelations Friday when WikiLeaks dumped thousands of damaging emails reportedly from John Podesta, chairman of the Clinton campaign.

“I understand why [Republicans are] shocked and I understand why they’re upset,” Giuliani told host George Stephanopoulos, adding that “the Democrats all stick together and they’re all sticking with a candidate who looks like she violated a whole bunch of federal laws.”

“So [Trump] said some very bad things 10 or 12 years ago. He’s apologized for it. And it seems to me we should move on,” Giuliani said. “And the reality is, to some extent, he who hasn’t sinned should cast the first stone and maybe a lot of them haven’t, I don’t know.”

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Because Trump and Clinton are set to take the stage Sunday evening for the second presidential debate, Giuliani said that the stakes have been raised considerably higher for the candidates — both of whom are “flawed individuals,” Giuliani noted. What Trump says and how he presents himself at the debate could not be of higher importance than it is now.

“And it is true that we have two flawed candidates. But you know something? I was taught in my religion that we are all flawed and we all have to ask for forgiveness a lot in our lives, and I sure have,” Giuliani said. “I think Donald Trump understands that tonight is — was always going to be — very important and the stakes have gotten a lot higher as a result of these revelations.”

Ultimately, Giuliani believes that the American people want to hear and consider each candidate’s positions on pressing issues facing the country, such as trade, the economy, illegal immigration, and national security.

“These are the things I think the American people would like to hear and then I think they could make a judgment as to which [candidate] they want to lead the country,” Giuliani said.