TRENTON -- To prepare his friend Donald Trump for Sunday's second presidential debate, Gov. Chris Christie has been playing the role of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, according to a report in the Washington Post.

The governor, who also serves as Trump's transition planning chief, is part of a debate prep team that has RNC chairman Reince Priebus serving a faux moderator.

According to the report, the Republican presidential nominee began preparing for the second debate last weekend at his golf course in Bedminster, and again on Thursday at Trump Tower in New York.

The tycoon has been loathe to admit he has been preparing with Christie publicly, however.

At a campaign rally in Sandown, N.H., late Thursday afternoon, Trump insisted to the assembled crowd that his on-stage 2 minute countdown clock had "nothing to do with Sunday," adding, "Forget debate prep -- give me a break" as Christie looked on from the audience.

But after audio from 2005 surfaced on Friday showing Trump lewdly referring to a failed attempt to seduce and bed married "Access Hollywood" co-host Nancy O'Dell and bragging about groping other women with impunity, the tycoon has taken a different tone about debate prep.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan on Friday cancelled a campaign event with Trump that had been scheduled for Saturday in Wisconsin, saying he had been "sickened" by Trump's claims of having grabbed women by their genitalia.

Late Friday evening, Trump's campaign issued a statement saying that "Governor Mike Pence will be representing me tomorrow in Wisconsin. I will be spending the day in New York in debate prep with RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Jeff Sessions, and then flying to St. Louis on Sunday for the 2nd Presidential Debate."

Sunday's debate will be a "town hall" style meeting, a format Christie has excelled at and favored for most of his own presidential run.

As with Christie's free-wheeling town halls, the Commission on Presidential Debates has ruled that it will accept questions voted on through the internet to ask of the candidates in addition to those asked by the traditional studio audience.

Late Friday evening, Trump issued an apology for his remarks that surfaced Friday, saying that his remarks "don't reflect who I am" and ending by promising, "we will discuss this more in the coming days. See you at the debate on Sunday."

Here is my statement. pic.twitter.com/WAZiGoQqMQ — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2016

Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.