Trump denies inappropriately touching women

One woman - Jessica Leeds, 74, of New York - told 'The New York Times' that Trump had groped her on a flight over 30 years ago.

Leeds said Trump grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt. "He was like an octopus," she told the newspaper. "His hands were everywhere." The other woman - Rachel Crooks, of Ohio - said she met Trump at Trump Tower in 2005, aged 22. Crooks says Trump kissed her "directly on the mouth" against her will.

Separately, said he kissed her on the mouth after she introduced herself to him in 2005.

Meanwhile, "The Palm Beach Post" in Florida reported Wednesday night that Mindy McGillivray, 36, told the newspaper that Trump had groped her at his Mar-a-Lago estate 13 years ago.

After tapes released at the weekend in which Trump spoke of "grabbing pussy," the candidate's poll ratings have plunged, with the possibility of more women coming forward before the November 8 poll.

"This entire article is fiction, and for the New York Times to launch a completely false, coordinated character assassination against Mr. Trump on a topic like this is dangerous," campaign senior communicators advisor Jason Miller said in a statement. "To reach back decades in an attempt to smear Mr. Trump trivializes sexual assault, and it sets a new low for where the media is willing to go in its efforts to determine this election."

Trump's Democrat rival Hillary Clinton meanwhile sought to make political mileage out of Trump's falling ratings, asking Republican candidates in tight election races: "Are you with him or not?" With Clinton pulling ahead in the race, Republican candidates for the House and Senate are caught, either to revoke support for their party's nominee, and risk losing his voters and losing their races or standing by him and risking turning off moderate Republicans.

The Democrats could win the House and Senate and White House if enough moderate Republicans voters in swing states shift away from Trump.

Trump meanwhile kept up his denunciations of Clinton at a rally in Florida. It's not enough for voters to elect him instead of her, he declared, "She has got to go to jail."

jbh/rc (AFP, AP, Reuters)