SDLP activist inspired by Clintons’ Belfast visit hits US campaign trail
A STUDENT who attended the Clintons’ 1995 Belfast Christmas lights switch-on is jetting off to America to campaign for Hillary Clinton in the final days of her push for the White House.
Seamas De Faoite is travelling to southern California and Nevada to help the Democrats canvass voters.
The 24-year-old is heading to America with 14 other activists, through the Party of European Socialists (PES).
He was just four when the Clintons made their historic visit to Northern Ireland. DONALD Trump refused to confirm if he would accept the result of the US presidential election if he lost as he clashed with Hillary Clinton in their final head-tohead debate.
The candidates squared off at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas for the last time before Americans go to the polls on November 8.
Republican Mr Trump was questioned about claims he made ahead of the third debate that the election would be rigged in favour of his Democratic rival.
Asked by moderator Chris Wallace if he would accept the result, Mr Trump replied: “I will tell you at the time. I’ll keep you in suspense.”
Mrs Clinton described Mr Trump’s remarks as “horrifying”, while the Republican National Committee said the national party would “respect the will of the people”.
“Every time Donald thinks things are not going in his direction, he claims whatever it is, is rigged against him,” Mrs Clinton told the audience.
“There was even a time when he didn’t get an Emmy for his TV programme three years in a row and he started tweeting the Emmys were rigged against him.”
In another tense exchange, Mrs Clinton branded Mr Trump a “puppet” of Russian President Vladimir Putin and challenged him to condemn Russia’s suspected involvement in the hacking of emails during the election campaign.
“I don’t know Putin,” Mr Trump said. “He said nice things about me. If we got along well, that would be good.
“He has no respect for her. He has no respect for our president. We’re in very serious trouble. We
One of the enduring images was of Bill Clinton switching on Belfast’s Christmas lights, watched by thousands.
“I was very young when President Clinton and Hillary visited Belfast to turn on the Christmas lights, but I do clearly remember being very cold outside City Hall,” Seamas said.
“I had some sense of my parents’ excitement. They were acutely aware that an American President had just staked his reputation on the peace process, and no one else at that kind of level had done that before.
“They saw an opportunity for my generation to live without the violence of the past.” have a country with tremendous numbers of nuclear warheads — 1,800 nuclear warheads — and she’s playing chicken.”
Mr Clinton responded: “That’s because he’d rather have a puppet as President of the United States”.
Mr Trump replied: “No, you’re the puppet.”
The billionaire tycoon also ad-
Explaining his reasons for joining the Democrats’ push for the presidency, Seamas added: “I hope that in some small way I’ll get to repay the debt that my generation owes the Clintons for their work in supporting the peacemakers.”
Seamas has been active in party politics since the age of 14.
He chairs the Belfast youth wing of the SDLP, which is a member of the PES in the European Parliament.
The PES and the California Democratic Party hope the activists’ time on the presidential campaign trail will help centre-left parties in Europe win their own elections. dressed claims he sexually assaulted a number of women, accusing Mrs Clinton’s campaign team of creating the “totally false” allegations.
“The past few years have not been great for the European centre-left,” Seamas said.
“In the context of the Brexit (vote), that is all the more important for the SDLP.
“Across all levels of the party, we have been closely involved with the PES in an effort to secure Northern Ireland’s place in Europe.”
Seamas also explained why he was enormously concerned about the possibility of a Donald Trump presidency.
“Donald Trump has threatened to imprison her if he wins — that’s not the hallmark of anyone who believes in a free and open democracy,” he said.
“I didn’t even apologise to my wife who is sitting right here because I didn’t even do anything,” he said. “These women... I think they either want fame or her campaign did it. And I think it’s her campaign.”
Mrs Clinton responded: “Donald thinks belittling women makes him bigger. He goes after their dignity and self-worth.”
The activist believes Hillary Clinton is a far better option for the White House.
“In the context of a political world where soundbites and flashy imagery are so popular, here is a candidate who gets excited about the facts, about data and about what policy made in Washington means for people across the United States and the world,” he said.
“She’s shown that right throughout her career, and it hasn’t made her popular because some people see her as being over-cautious.
“But in the Oval Office, a temperament like that can make all the difference.”
In a repeat of the bitter tone of the first two debates, Mr Trump also called Mrs Clinton a “nasty woman” and claimed that America would be in “some mess” if she was elected.
“The only thing you have over me is experience, but it’s bad experience,” he added.
In a discussion on immigration, Mr Trump said his desire to build a wall on the US-Mexico border was to keep out “bad hombres”.
He explained: “One of my first acts will be to get all of the drug lords — we have some bad, bad people in this country that have to go out... we have some bad hombres here and we are going to get them out.”
The two candidates also clashed over the rights of women to have abortion.
Mr Trump said he planned to appoint “pro-life judges” to the Supreme Court and allow states to determine whether abortion should be legal.
Referring to Mrs Clinton, he added: “Based on what she’s saying... you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month on the final day, and that’s unacceptable.”
Mrs Clinton responded: “That’s not what happens in these cases, and just using that kind of scare rhetoric is just terribly unfortunate.”
Among the debate audience was US president Barack Obama’s half brother Malik, who was a guest of Mr Trump. He had previously told the New York Post be believed the Republican “can make America great again”.