Trump on lewd remarks: ‘I was wrong and I apologise’

US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump made a rare apology for past sexist remarks after a leaked video from 2005 caught him bragging in sexually explicit terms about groping women.

“I said it, I was wrong and I apologise,” said the New York property developer in a video statement released shortly after midnight on Saturday (5am Irish time).

In the short but defiant address, Mr Trump insisted that his crude remarks captured on tape amounted to “nothing more than a distraction” and were not as egregious as Bill Clinton’s extramarital affairs.

He posted a 90-second video on Facebook in response to a chorus of condemnation after he was recorded in a lewd conversation talking about trying to have sex with a married woman and saying that his celebrity allowed him to "do anything" with women including "grab them by the pussy."

The video, obtained and posted by the Washington Post on Friday evening, threw Mr Trump’s presidential campaign into a tailspin.

Republicans lined up to denounce their candidate in strong terms over his demeaning remarks about women, joining Mr Trump's Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton in condemning him.

Some Republicans called on him to end his presidential bid. The nominee refused to bow to the pressure and even used his responding video to turn his sights on his rival for the US presidency.

The taped apology capped a dramatic night in the race for the White House as the reality-TV star sought to draw a line under yet more inflammatory remarks to emerge from his colourful past.

“I’ve never said I’m a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I’m not,” Mr Trump said, speaking directly to the camera in what appeared to be a hastily produced video.

“I’ve said and done things I regret and the words released today on this more-than-a-decade-old video are one of them. Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am.”

Referring to how his travels on the presidential campaign had “changed me,” he said: “I pledge to be a better man tomorrow and will never, ever let you down,”

Mr Trump admitted that he had said “some foolish things” but hit back at his opponent, saying that there was “a big difference between the words and actions of other people.”

He claimed Mr Clinton had “actually abused women” and accused Mrs Clinton of having “bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims.”

Signing off, he said: “We will discuss this more in the coming days. See you at the debate on Sunday,” hinting that he may raise the subject in his second presidential debate tomorrow night.

The 2005 video of Mr Trump's remarks dated back to his appearance on an entertainment TV show, Access Hollywood. A microphone caught his off-camera conversation with host Billy Bush as they arrived on a bus to the set of a soap opera where he was to film a cameo appearance.

The audio, recorded three months after his marriage to his third wife, Melania, recorded Mr Trump talking about a failed attempt to seduce a married woman.

“I did try and f**k her. She was married,” he said of a woman later identified as Nancy O’Dell, a former anchor of programme, now a co-presenter on Entertainment Tonight.

“I moved on her like a like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there, and she was married,” he added. “Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look.”

The businessman went on to brag about how he uses his celebrity to kiss and grope women.

“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful [WOMEN],” he said. “I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything: grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

Mr Trump, in an earlier written statement responding to the video, dismissed the conversation as "locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago" and said that "Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course - not even close."

“I apologise if anyone was offended,” he concluded.

The 2005 comments will further damage his poor standing amongst female voters and moderate Republican voters, while his qualified apology did little to sate the anger of politicians in his party.

House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan, the highest-ranking elected Republican, said that he was "sickened" by Mr Trump's remarks and said that the presidential nominee would not be appearing at an event that the two men had planned in his home state of Wisconsin today.

“Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified,” he said. “I hope Mr Trump treats this situation with the seriousness it deserves and works to demonstrate to the country that he has greater respect for women than this clip suggests.”

The presidential candidate later released another statement saying that his vice-presidential candidate, Indiana governor Mike Pence, will be representing him instead in Wisconsin.

Mrs Clinton called the tape “horrific” in a message posted on Twitter and implored voters not to support the candidate. “We cannot allow this man to become president,” she wrote.

Criticism came from Republicans both supporting Mr Trump’s candidacy and senior party figures who have openly opposed his presidential bid.

Mr Trump's one-time Republican rival, Jeb Bush, tweeted: "As the grandfather of two precious girls, I find that no apology can excuse away Donald Trump's reprehensible comments degrading women." Former Republican nominees Mitt Romney and John McCain were equally critical.

The Republican majority leader of the US senate, Mitch McConnell, disavowed Mr Trump’s comments, calling on him (before his video apology) to “take full responsibility for the utter lack of respect for women shown in his comments on that tape.”

The Democratic senate minority leader Harry Reid urged Republicans to drop Mr Trump as their presidential nominee, calling the fallout from his remarks a "moment of truth" for the party.

Some heeded his call. Republican senator Mark Kirk of Illinois, who is facing a tough re-election battle next month, said that Mr Trump "should drop out" of the presidential race and the Republican Party should "engage rules for emergency replacement."

Senate Mike Lee of Utah, asked Mr Trump in a live video posted on Facebook "to step aside" and allow someone else to stand as the party's nominee.

“You, sir, are the distraction. Your conduct, sir, is the distraction,” he said.

The Republican governor of Utah withdrew his endorsement of Mr Trump, describing his statements as “beyond offensive and despicable.”

“While I cannot vote for Hillary Clinton, I will not vote for Trump,” he tweeted.

Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, became the first member of the US congress publicly to rescind his endorsement of Mr Trump after the leaking of the video.

“I’m out,” said the chairman of the influential House of Representatives oversight committee and one of Mrs Clinton’s most vocal critics.

“I can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president. It is some of the most abhorrent and offensive comments that you can possibly imagine.”