Presidential debate: Donald Trump holds pre-debate press conference with Bill Clinton sexual abuse accusers

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Donald Trump has held a press conference with women accusing Bill Clinton of rape and sexual harassment.

The unexpected event was streamed on Facebook Live and happened just hours ahead of the second presidential debate which will tonight see him go head-to-head with Hillary Clinton.

Mr Trump can be seen in the footage with four women, two of whom accuse Mr Clinton of committing sexual violence, while a third accuses Ms Clinton of condoning it.

In turn, they each cite their support for Mr Trump's candidacy and criticise the Clintons.

Paula Jones, a former Arkansas state employee who settled a harassment case against Mr Clinton in 1999, says: "I'm here to support Mr Trump because he's here to make America great again, and I think everyone else should vote for him, look at the fact that he is a good person, not what other people have said."

Kathy Shelton, who was allegedly raped aged 12 and her alleged attacker was defended in court by Hillary Clinton when she was a lawyer, says: "I'm also here to support Donald Trump. At 12 years old, Hillary Clinton put me through somthing you should never put a 12-year-old through. and she says she is for women and children."

Juanita Broaddrick, who has publicly accused Mr Clinton of rape, says: "I'm Juanita Broaddrick and I'm here to support Donald Trump. I tweeted recently and Mr Trump retweeted recently that I was raped by Bill Clinton. Actions speak louder than words, Mr Trump may have said some bad words, but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me."

The surprise conference comes amid mounting pressure on Mr Trump to stand aside as Republican nominee after footage emerged of him making offensive comments about women. In one recording, he appears to brag about groping women.

“I’ve gotta use some Tic-Tacs, just in case I start kissing her,” Mr Trump says in the video. “You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful – 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,” he adds. “You can do anything… Grab ’em by the p****.”

Ms Clinton's campaign team dismissed the conference as an "act of desperation". A statement posted to Twitter by her campaign team, said: "We're not surprised to see that Donald Trump continue his destructive race to the bottom. Hillary Clinton understands that opportunity in this town hall [debate] is to talk to voters on stage and in the audience about the issues that matter to them, and this stunt doesn't change that.

"If Donald Trump doesn't see that, that's his loss. As always, she's prepared to handle whatever Donald Trump throws her way."

Follow the latest updates from tonight's US presidential debate as it happens on The Independent's live blog here