‘Grab ‘Em By the Pulmonary System’: Establishment Media Links Trump’s COVID to ‘Access Hollywood’ Tape

Voices within the mainstream media are beginning to compare President Donald Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis with the Access Hollywood tape that was released in October 2016, which nearly derailed Trump’s first presidential campaign.

In a story dated Oct. 8, 2016, the Washington Post released a video from NBC’s Access Hollywood show in which Trump was heard on a hot mic talking about his exploits with women: “Grab ’em by the pussy” because the most notorious line.

Though Trump issued a rare apology, the news caused panic in the ranks of Republican leadership, and hurt Trump badly among female voters, possibly costing him the states of New Hampshire and Minnesota in the November election.

On Friday, the Post‘s Jacqueline Alemany reported that a “source close to the Trump campaign” had compared the likely impact of the coronavirus story to the Access Hollywood story, adding that the impact might turn out to be slightly worse:

Source close to Trump campaign just likened Trump's positive covid-19 test to the fallout after Access Hollywood tape was released on Oct. 7, 2016. It (temporarily) cost him ~ 2-4 points in public polling. "I'm guessing this is slightly more problematic than that," source added.

— Jacqueline Alemany (@JaxAlemany) October 2, 2020

Others reacted, including journalist Ben Jacobs, who offered a macabre joke in response: “Grab ’em by the pulmonary system?”.

The first major national poll after Tuesday’s presidential debate showed President Trump gaining on Biden, despite criticism from pundits.

However, there is no sign yet of what the political impact of the president’s coronavirus diagnosis might be. First Lady Melania Trump was also diagnosed with COVID-19.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His newest e-book is The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.