Melania Trump breaks her silence: "Many women gave my husband their phone number to my face"
"He is a gentleman. He supports all women and employs many."
This is how his wife Melania described Donald Trump on Monday in an interview with the US television network CNN.
The former model of Slovenian origin said the obscene comments captured on video from her husband were unacceptable but did not represent the Donald Trump she knows.
She claimed that the presidential candidate was guilty of participating in a "teen talk" but had been prompted by the show's host, Billy Bush.
In the recording, Trump tells Bush, who was then the host of NBC's Access Hollywood show, that he could do whatever he wanted with women because he was a star.
The publication of the video caused dozens of Republicans to stop supporting Trump's candidacy.
Since then, several women have publicly accused the New York mogul of non-consensual sexual touching. But he denies them in some cases, pointing out that women are not physically attractive enough.
"The women gave him their phone number"
In the interview with CNN, the first she has given since the scandal began 10 days ago, Melania Trump defended her husband's conduct with women.
She said the White House hopeful had never behaved inappropriately.
In contrast, she expressed that it was common for women to approach her husband to give her her phone number.
"These women knew he was married and they did this to my face."
On the video that sparked the scandal 10 days ago, she added: "I told my husband that the language was inappropriate. That it was not acceptable. I was surprised, because he is not the man I know."
After the recording was made public, Trump's wife released a statement condemning the comments made by the businessman-turned-politician.
"He apologized to me and I accepted. Now I hope that the Americans will also apologize," she said Monday.
The former model believes Billy Bush, who was fired from NBC in the wake of the video, was the main culprit.
And she said that her husband was "led, as incited, by the presenter to say dirty and bad things."
