US presidential debate: Hillary Clinton says leaked tape proves Donald Trump disrespects women

Donald Trump was immediately attacked over the leaked sex tape, as Hillary Clinton said “this is who Donald Trump is”.

The first question of the the second presidential debate was from a teacher in the audience who asked what sort of role model the candidates presented to young Americans.

The two candidates initially responded in a general way, with Mr Trump saying he wanted to make America great again and Ms Clinton saying it was important to ensure schools received sufficient resources.

One of the anchors then asked Mr Trump about the tape in which be bragged about sexually assaulting women - a controversy that has sparked huge outcry and seen leading members of the Republican Party denounce him.

“It was locker room banter. I’m not proud of it,” said Mr Trump, then saying that there were more serious issues confronting the country, including “Isis beheading” people.

“You hear these things I’ve said and I was embarrassed by it,” Mr Trump said. “But I have tremendous respect for women. They have tremendous respect for me.”

But Ms Clinton was quick to pounce. She said that prior to the video being released, Mr Trump had made a series of offensive comments about women.

She said while Mr Trump claimed claimed the tape did not represent him, “it’s clear to anyone who heard it, it represents exactly who he is”.

Mr Trump tried to turn the discussion to Bill Clinton’s history with women. “If you look at Bill Clinton, far worse,” Mr Trump said.

Ms Clinton did not address the attacks on her husband. “He gets to run his campaign any way he chooses,” she said. She paraphrased Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic convention to describe her approach. She said: “When they go low, you go high.”