Donald Trump once said himself that his views on women disqualify him from 'running for political office'

'I think certain women are more beautiful than others, to be perfectly honest,' he says in newly uncovered interview

A New Zealand TV station has discovered archive footage in which Donald Trump himself said his views on women meant he should never "run for political office".

The Republican presidential candidate has been defending himself in the past few days after audio tapes were released in which he could be heard making sexually aggressive comments about groping women.

In a live TV debate against Hillary Clinton on Sunday night, Mr Trump dismissed the 2005 comments as "just words" and "locker room talk", suggesting they did not impact on the real issues of running for president.

But that stance is very different to the one he took back in 1993, when he was asked on New Zealand's TV3 network about his reputation as "a high-rolling tycoon associated with glamorous women".

Asked by interviewer Owen Poland if that was "the sort of image you enjoy of yourself", Mr Trump replied: "No, I don't enjoy that image. I guess I have that image. I think women are beautiful – I think certain women are more beautiful than others, to be perfectly honest – and it's fortunate I don't have to run for political office."

Mr Trump made the comment during a visit to New Zealand in 1993 as part of a consortium bidding for a casino operator's licence.

The tape was uncovered by TV3 - now Newshub - and the network's political editor Patrick Gower said Mr Trump now "should listen to his own prophetic words".

In an interview with The Associated Press, Poland, now a freelance journalist and media trainer, said he recalls Trump being open about his personal life during his visit.

"It's funny how 23 years later a one-liner like that, which is what it is really, kind of comes back and bites you ... ," Poland said.

New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key weighed in, describing Trump's 2005 comments as "indefensible." Asked about the New Zealand video, Key said he hadn't seen it but had heard about it, and added: "It's all on a bit of consistent theme, really, isn't it?"

Additional reporting by agencies