One of the most serious repercussions for Mr Trump's campaign from the leaked audiotapes is the effect the revelations will have on America's powerful evangelical constituency.

This traditional Republican voting bloc largely avoided Mr Trump in the primary election race, preferring the likes of Texas senator Ted Cruz. But once he emerged as the nominee, many grudgingly got behind him.

Now Vicki Sciolaro, chairwoman of a Kansas Republican party district and an evangelical Christian has gone on television with a convoluted argument to convince evangelicals to stay with Mr Trump.

"He's not running to be the pope," she told CNN.

Mrs Sciolaro appeared to suggest that Mr Trump's praising of sexual assault, with his assertion that he can grab women's genitals, was in keeping with America's soiled culture.

"Look at our culture," she said. "We have bars; we have strip clubs."

But, she said, regardless of his faults, God would make Mr Trump a force for good: "God can use anybody to lead this country," she said. "God can do anything with this man."

Asserting that Bill Clinton, the former president had committed far worse acts of sexual deviance, Mrs Sciolaro referred to his affair with Monica Lewinsky in the White House: "When Bill Clinton was president, my children came home from school and they had no idea it was called the Oval office," she said. "They thought it was an oral office."