The Republican nominee for Michigan governor this week apologized for uncomfortable comments he made to an unidentified woman in a 1989 video clip.
In the 38-second video, a woman out of view of the camera can be heard telling Bill Schuette, then a Michigan congressman, to move closer to a lamp.
“I will do anything you want,” Schuette replied. “Some things I may not let you run the camera on.”
The clip was sent to TPM this week and shared on Twitter by progressive opposition research group American Bridge on Thursday. No additional context about the interview has been made available.
The Schuette campaign appeared aware that the video was circulating, issuing a statement on Wednesday saying that the GOP nominee did not remember the circumstances surrounding the “interview outtake.”
“That apparently was my poor attempt to be humorous 30 years ago,” Schuette said, expressing “regret” and calling the clip “embarrassing.” “The video, which appears to be edited with only one short portion shown, has been in the public domain for some time.”
As the Schuette campaign mentioned, the clip was posted on GOP-friendly site miconservativenews.com back in July. As of Friday morning, it had been taken down.
“I imagine everyone who’s watched it had the same uncomfortable look on our faces,” Democratic nominee Gretchen Whitmer responded on Twitter. “But even more troubling is the fact that Schuette has spent the past 33 years in office attacking the rights of women and working to take away our access to contraception and health care.”
