Hillary and Trump turn up the heat in tit-for-tat personal attacks
HILLARY CLINTON labelled Donald Trump a dangerous “demagogue” just hours after Mr Trump had lambasted her for using the US government as a “private hedge fund”.
Mr Trump made his attack as Mrs Clinton was basking in the glow of having clinched the Democratic presiden- tial nomination. He said: “The Clintons have turned the politics of personal enrichment into an art form. They’ve made hundreds of millions of dollars selling access, selling favours, selling government contracts.
“Hillary Clinton turned the State Department into her private hedge fund. The Russians, the Saudis, the Chinese, all gave money to Bill and Hillary and got favourable treatment in return.”
Mr Trump said he would reveal more details of “all the things that have taken place with the Clintons” next week.
Mrs Clinton countered yesterday with the contention that Mr Trump’s racially charged rhetoric hearkens back to dark moments in history.
“It’s classic behaviour by a demagogue,” she told the Associated Press. “We’ve seen it many, many places and times in the world, and that’s why I think it’s so dangerous.” She went on to say that she sometimes wonders if Mr Trump is putting on an act.
“I don’t know if this is just, you know, political gamesmanship that he thinks plays to the lowest common denominator, but whatever the reason for it is, it’s wrong and it should not be tolerated by anybody,” she said.
The former secretary of state made particular note of Mr Trump’s fondness for “conspiracy theories”. “I never really ever had any information about him engaging in bigotry and prejudice until he took up the cause of the birthers against President Obama, which is really so bizarre,” she said, referring to Mr Trump’s past claims that Barack Obama was not born in the US.
With five months remaining before the election, and both candidates set- ting records for “unfavourability”, the battle lines are taking shape. One primary squabble between the two is over the loyalties of Bernie Sanders’s supporters, many of whom distrust Mrs Clinton.
“To all those Bernie Sanders supporters left out in the cold by a rigged system,” Mr Trump said in Tuesday’s speech, “we welcome you with open arms.”