As it happened: Clinton, Trump clash in 2nd US presidential debate

Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton head into a crucial presidential debate Sunday with the Republican’s White House campaign in chaos over his lewd boasts about groping women.

Donald Trump dismissed his predatory remarks about groping women as “locker room talk,” and took a swipe at Hillary Clinton’s husband Bill over past sexual misconduct in a fiery second US presidential debate on Sunday.

Republican US presidential nominee Donald Trump looks on as Democratic US presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks during their presidential town hall debate at Washington University in St. Louis. (Reuters)

The Democrat Hillary Clinton, facing a deeply wounded candidate with one month to go before Election Day, pushed back by saying Trump’s lewd comments, caught on a hot mic, merely showed his true self.

With tens of millions of Americans tuning in for the televised showdown, the Republican nominee may have been expected to show contrition as he seeks to move beyond the crisis triggered by the tape’s release.

Instead Trump levelled a blunt attack at former President Clinton -- present in the audience -- asserting that he has a history of abusing women, and inviting several of his accusers to attend the debate.

Read: US presidential election: Town-hall debates are chattier and scrappier

Here are highlights of the second US presidential debate (Clinton’s quotes are signed ‘H’ and Trump’s ‘D’):