Washington 9 Oct (ANA) - Donald Trump’s campaign team is reportedly bracing itself for more hugely embarrassing revelations, after audio tapes were released showing the billionaire making sexually aggressive comments about women. Dozens of senior Republicans have denounced their party’s candidate over the scandal, and the issue is set to dominate the billionaire’s second live TV debate against Hillary Clinton on Sunday night.

After recording a scripted apology for the sexist comments, made to Access Hollywood anchor Billy Bush 11 years ago, Mr Trump is understood to be keeping a low profile in Trump Towers, ostensibly in order to prepare for tonight’s head-to-head. But speaking to Fox News host Ed Henry, key Trump adviser Dr Ben Carson said the campaign team believed there were “more bombshells” to come. Henry said Dr Carson told him Mr Trump was “staying in” after the Washington Post released the audio on Friday. And he tweeted: “[Carson] told me he and [Trump] talked about more revelations coming: ‘They have more things and they will drip them out’.”  Meanwhile, pressure is growing on Trump to quit over obscene sexual comments caught on tape. Senator John McCain has become the latest to withdraw his support for Mr Trump amid controversy sparked by comments the candidate made in 2005, bragging about groping and making unwanted advances on women. It is now thought more than 30 Republican senators have publicly criticised his candidacy, an unprecedented state of affairs. But Mr Trump has insisted he will "never" abandon his White House bid despite calls for him to step aside after his vulgar descriptions of sexual advances on women were revealed.

“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,” the Republican presidential nominee said in one portion of the video. “And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything … Grab ‘em by the p***y.”  Mr McCain – the 2008 Republican nominee, long-time senator, and Vietnam veteran – released a lengthy statement explaining why he reached his decision. 

“I have wanted to support the candidate our party nominated. He was not my choice, but as a past nominee, I thought it was important I respect the fact that Donald Trump won a majority of the delegates by the rules our party set,” Mr McCain said. “But Donald Trump’s behaviour this week, concluding with the disclosure of his demeaning comments about women and his boasts about sexual assaults, make it impossible to continue to offer even conditional support for his candidacy.”(ANA)

FA/ANA/9 October 2016-----