Attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions said during Tuesday’s confirmation hearing that President-elect Donald Trump isn’t above the law.
When Senator Patrick Leahy asked Sessions if he felt that grabbing a woman by the genitals without consent is sexual assault, he answered, “Clearly, it would be.”
The scenario Leahy evoked was the infamous hot mic incident when Trump was caught making lewd comments about women to former “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush.
“The president is subject to certain lawful restrictions and they would be required to be applied,” Sessions answered.
The Alabama senator went on to say he orignally didn’t remember exactly what Trump said on the video, but Leahy fired back, asking, “Is grabbing a women by the genitals without consent sexual assault?”
“Yes,” Sessions answered.
Sessions’ stance is an apparent flip-flop, as he defended the president-elect in November by saying it was a “stretch” to call what Trump described as a sexual assault.
Days before the second presidential debate, The Washington Post published a videotape of Trump on a hot mic boasting about kissing, groping and having sex with women. “When you’re a star, they let you do anything … I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything,” he said. “Grab ’em by the pu–y.”
Check out the video above.