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Waleed Aly Says The Jokes Are Over, And #TrumpIsNoLaughingMatter

'By treating Trump like a clown, we failed to recognise him as a potential President.'
Channel Ten

Waleed Aly has slammed Donald Trump and called him out for sexual assault, but The Project co-host has also blamed the media -- including himself -- for laughing the Republican candidate off as a joke.

In his latest Something We Should Talk About segment, written with Tom Whitty, Waleed said "by treating Trump like a clown, we failed to recognise him as a potential President."

"We all need to change that -- me included -- even though we're on the other side of the world and our coverage of the US election won't even register on Trump's radar," Waleed said on Monday night.

The sledging of the Republican candidate comes after a recording surfaced of Donald Trump's derogatory and sexist comments to Billy Bush in 2005 about women, including actress Arianne Zucker (which you can read all about here).

(And for more on Trump's inappropriate comments on women, click here.)

"The tape allowed us to hear what Donald Trump sounds like when he's literally behind closed doors," Waleed said.

"That is sexual assault. And this is the moment -- this is the moment that everything we've suspected about Donald Trump was confirmed.

"Behind closed doors, there is everything that makes our stomachs turn, the predatory nature, the privilege, the sexism, the double standards, the sinister motivation."

Despite Trump delivering an onslaught of offensive comments during his Presidential race, the public isn't excusing the latest lewd remarks while a number of Republicans have withdrawn their endorsements for the Republican candidate.

"We have spent the last 15 months since Trump announced he was running for President laughing at him," Waleed said.

"It seemed the only appropriate response for someone so ludicrous, and sure satire can be an effective tool to reveal the limitations of our political leaders. But the problem in this case is that we have been laughing when we should have been taking a breath."

The Project co-host said the media needs to broaden its thinking, analysis and reporting as the past 15 months have failed to hold Trump accountable.

"You deserve better than that and we need to own up to that. Donald Trump hasn't been a laughing matter for a long time," Waleed said.

"So we're making this commitment -- between now and the election, no more jokes about Trump, because sexism is no laughing matter. And racism is no laughing matter. And inciting violence is no laughing matter.

"Sexual assault is no laughing matter and for those reasons and sadly many more, Donald Trump is no laughing matter."

We have a feeling this might register on Trump's radar.

Editor's note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar,rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

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