Trump, Clinton mired in separate scandals

Democrat Hillary Clintongreets the audience after attending the first presidential debate with Republican Donald Trump at Hofstra University in Hempstead of New York, the United States, Sept. 26, 2016. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on Monday held their first presidential debate in Hempstead. (Xinhua/Qin Lang)

BEIJING, Oct. 8 -- Separate scandals involving Republican and Democratic nominees, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, have been disclosed, frustrating American voters.

The Washington Post on Friday released a video, where Trump demeaned women with sexist language and bragged in vulgar terms that he can do anything with women because of his status as a billionaire star.

The footage was recorded in 2005 during a bus ride while Trump was on his way to tape an episode of the soap opera "Days of Our Lives," and he apparently did not appear to know a live microphone was recording his conversation.

After the release of the video, the Republican nominee apologized, saying "I apologize if anyone was offended" and calling the conversation a "locker room banter."

Clinton, who seized the opportunity to condemn Trump for his lewd remarks and branded him unfit for president, had to face a problem of her own.

Excerpts from closed-door speeches that Clinton gave to Wall Street executives two years ago were leaked by WikiLeaks on Friday just hours after the U.S. administration accused Russia of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations.

The excerpts include Clinton suggesting that Wall Street insiders are best equipped to help reform the financial sector. She also conceded that presidential candidates for either party must have tens of millions in contributions from New York to mount a competitive national campaign.

The collaboration between political and business elite have long frustrated the U.S. grassroots, and the trust issue of Clinton has continued to turn a large number of voters away.

WikiLeaks on Friday posted what it said were thousands of emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. It was unclear whether Podesta's personal email accounts had been hacked or whether the emails had been included in successful hacking attacks, blamed on Russia, against prominent Democratic organizations.

On Trump's lewd comments about women, Clinton said on Twitter that "This is horrific. We cannot allow this man to become president," while she refused the call of her primary opponent Bernie Sanders to release transcripts of her paid speeches.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, said he was "sickened" by Trump's crude comments about women, and is calling on the Republican presidential nominee to show greater respect for women.

In a statement late Friday, Ryan, who has had a rocky relationship with Trump, said that Trump will no longer be attending an annual fall festival in Wisconsin and that he hopes Trump will treat the fallout with the seriousness it deserves.

Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus, who has been a champion of the billionaire's campaign since he won the party's nomination, condemned Trump's crude comments, saying in a statement: "No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. Ever."

He was among the first Republicans to criticize the latest revelations of Trump's comments about women.

On the other hand, Clinton's campaign said it will not confirm the authenticity of emails from Podesta and blamed the intrusion on Russian state actors seeking to help rival Trump.

Campaign spokesman Glen Caplin said WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange "has made no secret of his desire to damage Hillary Clinton."

Podesta said he does not have time to sort out which emails are real but is "not happy" about being hacked.

A different group of hackers on Friday also published emails purported to be from Clinton aide Capricia Marshall.