Donald Trump lashed out against what he called "phony" accusations of inappropriate sexual contact levelled by several women, two more of whom came forward on Friday.

Trump launched into his defense at a rally Friday afternoon in Greensboro, North Carolina, saying he is being attacked with lies and slander. Neither he nor his campaign offered evidence to counter the accusations his running mate said earlier would be coming.

Trump, whose campaign has been roiled by the accusations and a 2005 recording in which he bragged about kissing and groping women without their consent, indicated he welcomed the chance to respond. He even suggested one of the women wasn't attractive enough to draw his attention. "She would not be my first choice, that I can tell you. You don't know, that would not be my first choice."

"My people always say, don't talk about it, talk about jobs," Trump said. "But I feel I have to talk about it because you have to dispute when somebody says something."

By bringing up the accusations at a rally with just 25 days left in the campaign, Trump is keeping attention on an issue that has caused his poll numbers to nosedive. His support turned down sharply after his first debate with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on September 26. Then, on October 7, the Washington Post unearthed a recording of Trump talking on an open microphone in 2005 about being able to "do anything" to women because of his fame.

Debate Topic

That recording prompted several high-profile Republican officials to distance themselves from Trump and became a major topic at his second debate with Clinton two days later. In an attempt at counter-programming, Trump held an event with three women who've accused Clinton's husband, former president Bill Clinton, of sexual misconduct, and then brought them to the debate venue as his guests.

Since then his poll numbers have plunged to an eight percentage-point deficit against Clinton in a Fox News survey conducted October 10-12, and she's gained in some crucial battleground states as well.

Trump's running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, said Friday morning the campaign would release evidence on Friday that "calls into question these allegations." But the campaign has yet to provide any material to counter the accusations beyond the flat denials.

New Accuser

At the same time Trump was speaking in Greensboro, another woman was making new allegations against the Republican nominee at a news conference in Los Angeles called by activist lawyer Gloria Allred. Summer Zervos, a contestant on season five of Trump's show, "The Apprentice," said Trump repeatedly tried to kiss her and grab her breasts during a private dinner when she was seeking a job with his company. She said she continued to seek employment with Trump after she rebuffed his attempts but he "gave me the run around."

Allred, who's been a supporter of Clinton, said Zervos and other women are coming forward now because of the release of the 2005 recording of Trump bragging he could do anything he wanted to women and his subsequent denial at the second presidential debate that he never acted in that manner.

"After hearing the released audiotapes and your denials during the debates, I felt I had to speak out about your behaviour," Zervos, who said she was a Republican, said as if addressing Trump. "You do not have the right to treat women as sexual objects just because you're a star."

Trump released a statement later denying her account. "To be clear, I never met her at a hotel or greeted her inappropriately a decade ago," Trump said in the written statement. "Hillary Clinton can spend all of her time and money pushing complete lies against our campaign, but I refuse to fall victim to this vicious cycle of personal attacks."

Manhattan Nightspot

In another case made public Friday, Kristin Anderson, now 46 and a photographer living in Southern California, told the Washington Post Trump groped her at a crowded Manhattan nightspot during the 1990s.

Anderson, at the time a model in her early 20s, said she was seated on a couch in conversation with acquaintances when Trump, who she hadn't noticed was seated beside her, slid his fingers under her miniskirt and touched her genitals through her underwear. She said she shoved his hand aside and fled the couch.

Allegations by other women have been published by the New York Times, People magazine and the Palm Beach Post. And CNN published a 2005 radio interview in which Trump said owning beauty pageants meant he could go backstage to see women naked under the auspices of "inspecting" things.

In Greensboro, Trump, 70, said he had "no idea" who the accusers are and that some are making the allegations "for a little fame." He again called the accusations lies pushed by the media and the Clinton campaign in the final weeks of the presidential election.

"They are all false. They're totally invented. All 100 percent fabricated," Trump said. "They have no witnesses, there's nobody around."

Clinton and her allies have seized on Trump's bragging about being able to make unwanted advances on women to question his fitness to serve in the nation's highest office. First lady Michelle Obama delivered an emotional response on Thursday, saying, "It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn't have predicted."

The first lady, who has become an important surrogate for Clinton among women and young voters, denounced Trump's remarks and said voters must send him a message that "enough is enough."

Clinton's campaign on Friday said in a statement her top female allies are being dispatched to battleground states in a concentrated effort "to emphasise the troubling accusations against Donald Trump and his degrading comments about women to women voters. "

House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, ignored Trump entirely during remarks Friday in which he argued instead why Clinton shouldn't be elected president. Ryan earlier this week ignited a civil war within his party when he told rank-and-file House Republicans that he wouldn't be campaigning for the party's presidential nominee or defending him.