Republican voters slam party establishment's criticism of Donald Trump

The poll came days after an 11-year-old audio clip surfaced in which Trump was recorded of using sexually aggressive comments about women

A majority of the Republican voters have slammed the party establishment's continued criticism of presidential nominee Donald Trump, according to a new poll.

The new Rasmussen Reports poll released on Wednesday showed that nearly six in 10 Republican voters believed it was bad for the party that leaders continued to criticise Trump, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the other half voters said that the party leaders do not want Trump to be elected president.

The poll came days after an 11-year-old audio clip surfaced in which Trump was recorded of using lewd and sexually aggressive comments about women.

During the audio clip, Trump made remarks about an unidentified married woman he hoped to have sex with, boasted about how easy it was to attract women with his celebrity status and even talked about groping women.

"When you're a star, women let you do anything," he was recorded as saying.

The New York billionaire later apologised for the "locker room banter" in the audio, but claimed that his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, "has said far worse to me on the golf course — not even close".

However, Trump's bid to shift the focus appeared to have failed as House Speaker Paul Ryan, the highest-ranking Republican official, and other party leaders, released statements blasting the real-estate magnate.