Trump goes on the offense to defend ‘groping’ comments

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has responded to an outcry over his remarks about groping women by launching a blistering attack against Hillary Clinton and her husband.

The Republican nominee denied ever sexually assaulting women, but turned his fire on ex-President Bill Clinton in a bitter US presidential debate.

"There's never been anybody in the history of politics that has been so abusive to women," he said as Democrat nominee and secretary of state Hillary Clinton refused to address his comments about her husband.

Trump's attack on the Clintons came after moderator Anderson Cooper asked him about a 2005 video released on Friday that revealed Mr Trump bragging about groping women.

The 70-year-old billionaire dismissed the remarks as "just words" and "locker room talk".

When pressed on whether he had engaged in sexual misconduct, he denied doing so and instead focused on former President Bill Clinton's previous indiscretions.

Trump also hammered Clinton on her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

Yet, a poll taken by CNN immediately following the debate showed that 57% viewers said Clinton had beaten Trump in the encounter.

The 2005 video in which Trump bragged about groping and trying to seduce women has sparked an exodus of Republicans denying support to their presidential nominee.

According to Reuters news agency, their condemnation plunged the party into its worst crisis since the resignation of President Richard Nixon, a Republican, in 1974.

The House Republican Conference, a body comprised of the almost 250 Republicans in the US House of Representatives, was set to meet on Monday to discuss the foundering Trump campaign, a House leadership aide said.

All but six of the 40 Republican officeholders whose races are considered competitive in the election have reportedly condemned Trump’s comments in the video, although only three members of that group have called for him to drop out.