All opinion polls say more swing States are slipping away from him and his chances of winning the U.S. presidency are increasingly remote, but Republican candidate Donald Trump continued with his no-holds-barred attack on his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, leaders of his own party, the media and the “global system.”
Mr. Trump responded to allegations made by at least four women that he sexually assaulted them, and promised to give evidence that disproved the charges. His explanation also became controversial as he probably made a reference to the appearance of one of his accusers. “Take a look, you take a look, look at her, look at her words — you tell me what you think. I don’t think so,” Mr. Trump said about a journalist who alleged he forcibly kissed her.
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In a second speech on Thursday, Mr. Trump ignored the allegations and focused on his fight against the system. “I have been an insider. Now that I have come out, and now that I am talking for the American people, they are out to destroy me… They will lie, lie, lie... and do worse than that,” he said, hinting at a conspiracy of global scale against him.
Mr. Trump said foreign governments, big American corporations and banks and the political elite represented by Ms. Clinton were trying to stop him because he turned against them. He did not spare the media either. “Jobs will come back to America... Apple will make its iPhones here, and not in China or Vietnam.”
He said he made a big sacrifice for the American people by running for presidency. “I didn’t have to do this. I was part of the system and I had a nice life,” he said, painting a picture of himself as a victim.
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Ms. Clinton made no public speeches on Thursday while President Barack Obama and wife Michelle Obama campaigned for her. Speaking at an event in the key swing state of Ohio on Thursday, Mr. Obama said Mr. Trump came from a “swamp of crazy” that Republicans had cultivated over decades.
“They’ve been riding this tiger for a long time,” he said. “They’ve been feeding their base all kinds of crazy for years.”
Taking aim at the scandal over Mr. Trump’s bragging about groping women, Mr. Obama said Republicans who have not disowned him should not be let off the hook.
More emailsMeanwhile, WikiLeaks has released nearly 4,000 more emails in two batches, from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s hacked account. These emails showed internal discussions on dealing with the allegations related to Ms. Clinton’s use of a private server, interactions with billionaire Democratic donor George Soros and foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation. The Clinton campaign said Mr. Podesta’s Twitter account was was hacked on Wednesday.
A group of Catholic and Evangelical leaders have sought an apology from the Democratic candidate for remarks about them by Clinton staffers, revealed by the WikiLeaks. “The WikiLeaks emails reveal a contempt for all traditional Christians, and we are — Catholic and Evangelical — united in our outrage and united in our call for Mrs. Clinton to immediately apologise for the Christophobic behaviour of her associates,” they said an a statement.