Presidential debate: Bill Clinton shares awkward handshake with Donald Trump's family after Republican candidate accuses him of abuse

The former US President greets Melania, Ivanka, Eric and Donald Trump Jr moments before the start

Bill Clinton shared an awkward handshake with the Trump family moments before the US presidential debate.

Mr Clinton greeted Melania, Ivanka, Eric and Donald Trump Jr just as the second presidential debate was about to commence.

The cold interaction between the families took place only hours after Donald Trump held a press conference with women accusing Bill Clinton of rape and sexual harassment.

The event was streamed on Facebook Live and came amid increasing pressure on Mr Trump to stand aside as the Republican nominee after footage emerged showing him making offensive comments about women.

People have taken to social media to respond to the seemingly awkward interchange:

Hilary Clinton was broadly perceived to be the winner of the second presidential debate with a CNN poll finding 57 per cent of people felt Ms Clinton performed best, compared to 34 per cent of voters who thought Mr Trump did better.

However many commentators felt she failed to deliver the knockout blow that could have been available to her after 48 hours of negative headlines about her rival's obscene commenst about women.

The fiercely contested US election is set to take place on 8 November.