Clinton points focus to Trump
Calls on women to reject his candidacy as race tightens
DADE CITY, Fla. — Hillary Clinton made her most direct appeal yet Tuesday for women to reject the candidacy of Donald Trump, recounting a history of degrading statements about women made by her Republican rival, as well as allegations of unwanted sexual advances.
Clinton’s broadside at a Florida campaign event came as she tried to redirect attention from news about the renewed FBI scrutiny related to her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state.
Trump, meanwhile, concentrated his rhetoric of the day on the Affordable Care Act, saying he would call a “special session” of Congress to repeal and replace the law that he says is causing rising health insurance premiums.
Clinton was introduced at the rally by Alicia Machado, the former Miss Universe who Trump once berated for gaining weight after winning the title and attacked on Twitter in the aftermath of the first presidential debate
Machado grew emotional while speaking about Trump’s remarks about her appearance in the 1990s, saying that “it is clear he does not respect women . . . he thinks he can do whatever he wants and get away with it.” Machado added that for years afterward she fought eating disorders.
Clinton said Trump has revealed himself to have little respect for women by “demeaning, degrading, in- Hillary Clinton recounted Donald Trump’s “degrading” statements about women Tuesday as Trump ripped Obamacare. sulting and assaulting” them.
Earlier in the day, during a campaign event in King of Prussia, Pa., Trump took direct aim at the Affordable Care Act and again promised to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.
“When we win on November 8th and elect a Republican Congress, we will be able to immediately repeal and replace Obamacare. Have to do it. I will ask Congress to convene a special session so we can repeal and replace,” Trump said during a midday speech.
There appears to be no necessity for a “special session” on Capitol Hill. The current Congress will reconvene soon after the election. And early next year, the new one will gavel in.
President Obama visited Ohio on Tuesday — part of an all-hands-on-deck roster of high-profile surrogates including Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders and former President Bill Clinton deployed to battleground states.
At an event near Columbus, Obama said that “if you disrespected women before you were elected, you will disrespect women once you’re president.”
The Clinton campaign also released a new ad Tuesday featuring clips of Trump speaking about women in disparaging ways. Aides said the ad will air in eight targeted states, including Arizona.
In Wisconsin, Trump urged early voters there who “are having a bad case of buyer’s remorse” to change their ballots before Thursday’s deadline.
The flurry of activity comes as public surveys show the race tightening, and the Clinton campaign is seeking to shore up support in several states where she had maintained comfortable margins so far. News that FBI Director James Comey is revisiting his probe into the potential mishandling of classified material in Clinton’s email practices as sec- retary of state has roiled the closing days of the contest.
In 72 hours, the Clinton campaign raised a recordbreaking $11.3 million online alone, according to a campaign official.
In a statement, Trump spokesman Jason Miller characterized the Clinton’s new ad reservations as a defensive move.
“It’s notable that in the final week of this campaign it is actually the Clinton campaign being put on defense and being forced to start advertising in so-called ’blue states’ to hold off Mr. Trump’s surge in the polls, including two states the Clinton campaign boasted of having put away months
Clinton camp again cries foul
WASHINGTON — The FBI has released a 17-yearold archive of documents from a long-closed investigation into Bill Clinton’s presidential pardon of a fugitive financier.
The release comes amid the bureau’s controversially timed review of emails from a Hillary Clinton aide.
The heavily censored material was published Monday on the FBI’s Freedom of Information Act web page and noted by one of the bureau’s Twitter accounts Tuesday. In October, the FBI unit published historical files as far back as 1966 about Donald Trump’s father, Fred Trump.
An FBI official said the documents had been requested under the federal records law.
As it did the emails review, the Clinton campaign questioned the decision to make the file public so close to Tuesday’s election. ago,” Miller said.
The Trump campaign announced it was investing $25 million in advertising across 12 states, including New Mexico and Michigan.
A Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll conducted Thursday through Sunday showed Trumpat 46 percent and Clinton 45 percent in a four-way contest. The poll finds little shift in Clinton’s overall support following news of the FBI’s renewed look at her emails, but strong enthusiasm among her supporters fell behind Trump in combined Saturday and Sunday interviews. said, adding Republican women to an electorate that mirrors what has been referred to as the Obama coalition of minority, young and independent voters.
The campaign had anticipated that the polls would tighten, the aide argued, adding that internal polling shows no great impact yet from the FBI announcement that it was reviewing newfound emails for possible links to Clinton’s private server.
Data on early voting underscore the trade-offs the candidates face in choosing where to put time and money.
So far, Latino voters appear to be turning out at levels above 2012 — far greater in some states. But African-American voters have lagged behind.
That puts Clinton in a stronger position in states where Latinos play a key role, notably Arizona and Nevada. The early vote so far shows Florida could be headed to yet another extremely close result, cementing its status as the nation’s most closely divided battleground.