Melania 'offended' by Donald Trump's lewd comments

Melania Trump, wife of Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, has said she was 'offended' by the lewd comments he made in a decade-old video that surfaced on Saturday, causing much outrage. However, she also said she has accepted his apology and urged voters to do the same. 

"The words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me. This does not represent the man that I know. He has the heart and mind of a leader. I hope people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world," Melania's statement read. 

The 2005 video of Trump talking on an open microphone showed the then-reality TV star speaking openly about groping women and trying to seduce a married woman. The video was taped only months after Trump married his third wife, Melania.

Trump's campaign was thrown into crisis as both his wife and running mate criticized him and more than a dozen prominent Republicans withdrew support and urged him to drop out following news of a recording of him making lewd comments in 2005. Although he issued a hasty apology, a defiant Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Saturday morning there is "zero chance I'll quit."

In an unusual move, vice presidential running mate Mike Pence also issued a critical statement, saying on Twitter that he cannot defend the nominee.
"As a husband and father, I was offended by the words and actions described by Donald Trump in the eleven-year-old video released yesterday," Pence, who is governor of Indiana, said in a statement. "I do not condone his remarks and cannot defend them."

(With Agency Inputs)