Friday night, the Washington Post posted a video clip of Donald Trump caught on tape bragging about using his position of power to sexually assault women. The clip was of Donald Trump on a hot mic before a 2005 interview with"Access Hollywood". He was speaking with then-host Bill Bush, now co-host of NBC's "Today Show".

In the video, Trump vulgarly brags about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women, saying that, "When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything."

He continues, "Grab them by the p****. You can do anything," using vulgar slang for the female anatomy. He also describes his unsuccessful attempt at seducing a married woman:

"I moved on her like a b****, but I couldn't get there. And she was married. Then, all of a sudden, I see her — she's now got the big phony t*** and everything. She's totally changed her look."

These misogynistic comments are only the tip of the iceberg. This video was released in the wake of Trump's attacks on Alicia Machado, former Miss Universe winner. Democrat Party's presidential nominee Hillary Clinton brought up Alicia Machado in the first presidential debate. Machado said that Donald Trump called her "Miss Housekeeping," in reference to her Venezuelan heritage and "Miss Piggy" regarding her weight. Following this, Trump continually attacked Machado via social media and the news, even going so far as to accuse her of having a sex tape despite the fact he had no evidence.

Trump has also made terrible comments about women in the past, such as calling them "fat pigs, slobs, and disgusting animals", as highlighted by Megan Kelly in the first GOP debate.

Trump is also facing a lawsuit for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl.

Responses to this video from the right have be resoundingly negative. Speaker Paul Ryan uninvited Donald Trump from a campaign event stating:

"I am sickened by what I heard today. Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified. I hope Mr. Trump treats this situation with the seriousness it deserves and works to demonstrate to the country that he has greater respect for women than this clip suggests. In the meantime, he is no longer attending tomorrow's event in Wisconsin."

Trump's running mate Mike Pence is attending the event in Trump's place. Many Republicans in office immediately denounced Donald Trump, including Republican National Committee chair Reince Preibus, who said:

"No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. Ever."

Republican Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington), the highest ranking Republican woman in Congress, also withdrew her support for the candidate:

"It is never appropriate to condone unwanted sexual advances or violence against women. Mr. Trump must realize that it has no place in public or private conversations today or in the past."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) also called for Donald Trump to “apologize directly to women and girls everywhere, and take full responsibility” for the comments.

In the backlash of the video, Trump released a short video Saturday morning apologizing for his statements and asserting that, "those words do not reflect who I am." He pledges that he has become a better man over the years since then but then makes accusations against the Clintons. Prior to the video, Trump issued a statement about how his remarks to Bush were "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."

Republican elected officials and prominent backers are calling for Trump to drop out of the presidential race in response to this video. Trump, unsurprisingly, has declined to do so and said, "I'd never withdraw. I've never withdrawn in my life."

In the presidential debate Sunday night, Trump outright denied bragging about sexually assaulting women, even though there is video evidence of him doing exactly that. When pushed, he repeatedly stated that the video was of "locker room talk". He then said that he has, "great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do," as well as, "and women have respect for me." He continually deflected further discussion of it by talking about ISIS and making America's safe again.

However, both the moderators Martha Raddatz (ABC) and Anderson Cooper (CNN) and Democrat Party nominee Hillary Clinton had a lot to say on the topic. She then addressed his treatment and opinion of women first:

"What we all saw and heard on Friday was Donald talking about women. What he thinks about women, what he does to women, and he has said that the video doesn't represent who he is. But I think it's clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is."

And she was far from done. Clinton emphasized why she thought Donald Trump unfit for the presidency:

"So, yes, this is who Donald Trump is. But it's not only women, and it’s not only this video that raises questions about his fitness to be our president. Because he has also targeted immigrants, African Americans, Latinos, people with disabilities, POWs, Muslims, and so many others. So this is who Donald Trump is and the question for us, the question our country must answer, is that this is not who we are. "

These deplorable comments and actions by Donald Trump emphasize just how terrible of a human being he is, let alone a presidential candidate. A vote for this man is a vote in favor of misogyny, white supremacy, racism, xenophobia, exploitation, and hate.

The single benefit of Trump's campaign is that it has exposed pervasive issues are still ingrained in our society. Now, no one can reject these problems with a straight face, pretending that they are just being blown out of proportion. They are out in the open for the world to see. No one can pretend "racism is dead" or "women are treated equally". The amount of hate present in this election season shows that so much hate remains in our country.

In order to combat this, we – as a country – must stand up against this. We need to stand up against this hate and injustice and reject it thoroughly and completely. We need to show that this will not define us as a nation, that we can be better, that we can improve and that we will not let hate rule us. We must not support a candidate who treats women as garbage, immigrants as criminals and minorities as the enemy.

Right now, the world looks to the United States with bated breath. This election will shape our country and how the world will see us. History will remember this moment. We must take a stand to better our nation and reject hate because this cannot be who we elect to represent our country. This cannot be who we are as a country.