US Vice President Mike Pence plotted a "coup" after a tape of Donald Trump boasting about groping women was released during the presidential election campaign, it has been claimed.

The video tape, made public just a month before the 2016 election, showed Mr Trump using lewd and sexually aggressive language to brag about groping and trying to have sex with women, saying “when you’re a star, they let you do it”.

Its release caused dissent among senior Republicans with a number withdrawing their endorsements and calls for Mr Trump to stand down as the party's candidate, fearing it would severely harm their chances of electoral success.

It was at this point that Mr Pence reportedly plotted a coup against his running mate, going to the Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Reince Priebus and offering to stand in Mr Trump's place as the presidential nominee.

As a deeply religious man, Mr Pence was said to be "beside himself" over Mr Trump's comments on the tape.

Mr Pence's wife Karen was even more disgusted and called Mr Trump "reprehensible - just totally vile", the US magazine the Atlantic reported.