Mic catches Trump's lewd comments on women: 'I just start kissing them'

A decade before he threw his name into the race for the White House and became the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump was caught on a microphone making degrading and lewd comments about women during an interview with Billy Bush.

Trump spoke of his attraction to beautiful women, saying it is "like a magnet."

"I'm automatically attracted to women," he said. "I just start kissing them."

Trump can also be heard on the tape discussing how he tried to woo a married woman in Palm Beach, Fla.

"I don't even wait, and when you're a star, they let you do it," Trump said. "You can do anything...Grab 'em by the *****."

Trump responded to the release of the tape Friday by releasing a statement:

"This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course – not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended," the statement said.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus took Trump to task for the comments, however.

"No woman should ever be described in these terms," Priebus said.

Trump married his wife, Melania, in a 2005 ceremony.