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| US election: Trump appears with Bill Clinton accusers | US election: Trump appears with Bill Clinton accusers |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Ahead of the US presidential debate, Republican nominee Donald Trump has appeared with women who accuse Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct. | Ahead of the US presidential debate, Republican nominee Donald Trump has appeared with women who accuse Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct. |
| He joined three women who allege the former president sexually assaulted them and a fourth whose rapist was defended by his rival Hillary Clinton. | He joined three women who allege the former president sexually assaulted them and a fourth whose rapist was defended by his rival Hillary Clinton. |
| Mr Trump, under fire for making obscene comments about women in a 2005 video, called the women "very courageous". | Mr Trump, under fire for making obscene comments about women in a 2005 video, called the women "very courageous". |
| He made the appearance in a Facebook Live event an hour before the debate. | He made the appearance in a Facebook Live event an hour before the debate. |
| Mrs Clinton called the move an "act of desperation". | Mrs Clinton called the move an "act of desperation". |
| The debate at Washington University in St Louis begins at 21:00 local time (01:00 GMT). | |
| Analysis - Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, St Louis | |
| If there were any doubt about what exactly is in store in tonight's presidential debate, Donald Trump's impromptu press conference has settled it. We are hurtling toward a political Gotterdammerung - and fast. | |
| For the past 48 hours, Republican leaders have been advising Mr Trump to express contrition and move on from the chaos following his taped boasts of unwanted sexual advances. They see trying to drag Hillary Clinton down with him as high risk, low reward. While Mr Trump's presidential hopes are likely done either way, he threatens to cause lasting damage to the Republican brand and endanger the party's down-ballot candidates. | |
| Mr Trump, it seems, doesn't care. But then he's never cared about the priorities of the establishment he ran against, so this should come as little surprise. Mr Trump is going to leave no stone unhurled. | |
| Does running with unproven allegations directed at the spouse of a presidential candidate violate every norm of US politics? Yes. Does it turn US politics into tawdry daytime television? Yes. | |
| But Mr Trump fashions himself a counterpuncher who answers every blow with overwhelming force. He's on the ropes now, trying to land that one decisive haymaker before he hits the canvas. | |
| So who are the women? | |
| Mr Trump appeared with Paula Jones, a former Arkansas state employee who settled a sexual harassment suit against Mr Clinton for $850,000 in 1999 with no admission of guilt. | |
| Juanita Broaddrick, who claimed Mr Clinton raped her in a hotel room in 1978, also appeared with Mr Trump. | |
| Mr Clinton has denied the claim through his lawyer and no charges have ever been brought against his for the allegation. | |
| The third woman was Kathleen Willey, a former White House aide who said Mr Clinton groped her in his office in 1993, but had previously said it never happened. | |
| Mr Clinton has also denied this claim. | |
| Kathy Shelton, the fourth woman who spoke, encountered Mrs Clinton in a criminal case when she was 12 years old. | |
| Early in Mrs Clinton's legal career, she was appointed to defend Ms Shelton's rapist, despite objections, and had his sentence reduced to a lesser charge. | |
| Years later, an audio tape emerged of Mrs Clinton discussing speaking with a reporter, in which she can be heard laughing about the case, | |
| During one instance, she laughed after explaining that her client had passed a lie detector test, which convinced her to never trust them again. | |
| More on the US election | |
| How does the US election work? | |
| A-Z guide to political jargon | |
| Key issues - where candidates stand | |
| Why this election will make history | |
| What is it about Clinton that her fans love? | |
| 50 Trump supporters explain why they back him |