Trump: Polls are ‘phony’; we are ‘winning’
GOP candidate still refuses to soften his messages
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A defiant Donald Trump blamed his worsening campaign struggles on “phony polls” from the “disgusting” media on Monday, fighting to energize his most loyal supporters as his path to the presidency shrinks.
Just 14 days until the election, the Republican nominee campaigned in battleground Florida as his team conceded publicly, as well as privately, that crucial Pennsylvania may be slipping away. That would leave a razor-thin pathway to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House on Nov. 8.
Despite continued difficulties with women and minorities, Trump refuses to soften his message to broaden his coalition. The strategy leaves no margin for error. Yet Trump offered an optimistic front during a three-day tour through Florida as thousands began voting in person.
“I believe we’re actually winning,” Trump declared during a roundtable discussion with farmers.
A day after suggesting the First Amendment may give the press too much freedom, he insisted that the media are promoting biased polls to discourage his supporters from voting.
“The media isn’t just against me. They’re against all of you,” Trump told cheering supporters later in St. Augustine.
With Trump on the defensive, Democrat Hillary Clinton worked to slam the door on his candidacy in swing state New Hampshire while eyeing a possible Democratic majority in the Senate.
The former secretary of state campaigned alongside New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, who is running for the Senate, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who seized on Trump’s history of predatory sexual language and several allegations of misconduct.
“He thinks that because he has a mouth full of Tic Tacs, he can force himself on any woman within groping distance,” Warren charged. “I’ve got news for you, Donald: Women have had it with guys like you.”
Trump has denied recent allegations and addressed a new one Monday in an interview with WGIR radio in New Hampshire.
He called the allegations “total fiction” and lashed out at former adult film performer Jessica Drake, who said Saturday that he had grabbed and kissed her without permission, and offered her money to visit his hotel room a decade ago.
“One said, ‘He grabbed me on the arm.’ And she’s a porn star,” Trump said. He added, “Oh, I’m sure she’s never been grabbed before.”
With Election Day two weeks away, Trump’s electoral map looks bleak.
The Republican National Committee ignored him altogether in mailers to New Hampshire voters set to be distributed later this week, according to material obtained by The Associated Press. The mail focuses instead on Clinton’s credibility, featuring a picture of her and former President Bill Clinton and the words “No More of The Lying Clintons.”
Trump’s team has publicly acknowledged in recent days that he’s behind.
His campaign manager Kellyanne Conway outlined a path to 270 electoral votes on Sunday that banks on victories in Florida, Ohio, Iowa and North Carolina, along with New Hampshire and Maine’s 2nd congressional district. Assuming Trump wins all of those — he trails in some — he would earn the exact number of electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
Noticeably absent from the list was Pennsylvania, a state that a top adviser privately conceded was slipping away despite Trump’s aggressive courtship of white working-class voters.
Florida was the focus on Monday as in-person early voting began across 50 counties. Early voting by mail has been underway for weeks and nearly 1.2 million voters in Florida have already mailed in ballots.
Clinton plans to visit Tuesday and Wednesday, while her running mate, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, was making two Florida appearances on Monday.