Barack Obama condemns Donald Trump over crude sex remarks

'It tells you that he's insecure enough that he pumps himself up by putting other people down. Not a character trait that I would advise for somebody in the Oval Office,' says Mr Obama

Barack Obama has condemned Donald Trump for vulgar remarks he made in a tape that recently emerged showing him bragging in lewd terms about treating women with impunity.

The American president described Mr Trump's remarks as "unbelievable rhetoric" and said they show character traits he would "not advise for somebody in the Oval Office".

Speaking at a campaign event in Chicago for US Senate candidate Tammy Duckworth, Mr Obama said: “One of the most disturbing things about this election is just the unbelievable rhetoric coming at the top of the Republican ticket. I don't need to repeat it. There are children in the room.

“Demeaning women, degrading women — but also minorities. Immigrants. People of other faiths. Mocking the disabled. Insulting our troops, Insulting our veterans. That tells you a couple of things: It tells you that he's insecure enough that he pumps himself up by putting other people down. Not a character trait that I would advise for somebody in the Oval Office.”

Mr Obama went on to say that the comments suggest Trump “doesn't care much about the basic values," adding: “It tells you that he'd be careless with the civility and the respect that a real vibrant democracy requires."

The president's comments come just hours before Trump will face off against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the second presidential debate.

Mr Trump initially wrote off the controversy over his lewd comments as nothing more than "locker room banter among boys", but after haemorrhaging supporters for hours he issued a video apology.

Since the remarks were aired, further tapes have surfaced that show crude, sexually explicit conversations in a series of radio interviews over the past 23 years, even noting how “voluptuous” his daughter was.

Despite a growing number of senior Republicans openly condemming Mr Trump and mounting pressure on him to step aside over the remarks, Mr trump has asserted that he would "never withdraw".