Clinton hits trail as Trump outlines plans
After illness, Dem back to campaigning; Republican releases health, policy reports
GREENSBORO, N.C. — As a seemingly humbled but healthier Hillary Clinton returned to the campaign trail with new urgency Thursday and sought to reframe the presidential election on her terms, vowing to deliver results for American families, her remarks in Greensboro were seen as overshadowed somewhat by Donald Trump’s release of medical information showing overall good health despite excess weight and a cholesterol problem treated with drugs.
And while later at a Washington gala of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute she accused Mr. Trump of fostering ugliness and bigotry by refusing to acknowledge President Barack Obama was born in the United States, her Republican opponent had already made more headlines for attaching a price tag for the first time Thursday to an economic vision promising what many economists say is impossible: lower taxes, a dramatic expansion in some federal programs and a slimmer government running a smaller deficit.
With just more than 50 days until Election Day and votes already being cast in many states, Ms. Clinton — who has been sidelined with pneumonia since Sunday — returned to the campaign trail in North Carolina knowing she had some catching up to do.
But she cast her time off as an unexpected blessing, giving her time for reflection that allowed her to “really reconnect with what this campaign is all about,” she told a modest crowd here after arriving on stage to
James Brown’s “I Feel Good.”
Throughout her remarks, the former secretary of state returned to the themes of a successful Democratic convention and even to her own announcement speech more than a year ago, detailing the causes she has fought for throughout her career and issues driving her to seek the nation’s highest office.
“I’m going to close my campaign the way I began my career,” she said, “focused on opportunities for kids and fairness for families.”
The choice of North Carolina for her return campaign appearance was intentional, campaign officials said, designed to send the message that they still believe they are on offense in a race that has tightened in recent days.
A New York Times/CBS News poll released Thursday found her virtually tied with Mr. Trump among likely voters.
The campaign owns up to the challenge before it. But just as it argued that her post-convention high point was never quite as high as it seemed in polls, her camp views the turbulence of the last week as not quite as dire as those on the outside — even some vocal Democrats — might make it seem. (Nevertheless, Ms. Clinton and her Democratic allies are making a major push to dissuade disaffected voters from backing third-party candidates, and pouring more energy into Rust Belt states, where Mr. Trump is gaining ground.)
In her remarks here, Ms. Clinton acknowledged that over years in the public eye, she has “built up some defenses” to deal with the charges of her opponents.
But she defended the initial decision not to disclose her illness until after she appeared to collapse as she left a 9/11 memorial service in New York.
“My senior staff knew and information was provided to a number of people,” she said when asked whether her running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, was informed. “This was an ailment that many people just power through, and that’s what I thought I would do as well.”
“I’ll never be the showman my opponent is,” she said, citing his appearance on “The Dr. Oz Show” to release personal health information. “But I am going to deliver for you and your family.”
Later, in Washington, Obama and Ms. Clinton made successive appeals to 3,000 Hispanic leaders and supporters, pointing to a large turnout of Latino voters as the antidote to Mr. Trump. Both noted the Republican’s hard-line position on immigration, referencing his opposition to a comprehensive overhaul of the system and his vows to build a wall along the Mexican border.
Ms. Clinton’s pneumonia prompted fresh questions about both candidates’ openness regarding their health. Mr. Trump released a new letter from his doctor Thursday detailing his blood pressure, cholesterol and medications, one day after Ms. Clinton made public a letter from her physician with similar information. Both candidates’ doctors declared them fit to serve as president.
Until Thursday, the only information on Mr. Trump’s health had come in a widely ridiculed letter from his doctor declaring he would be the healthiest person to ever serve as president. Before releasing the new details to the public, Mr. Trump turned over a copy to Mehmet Oz while taping an episode of Oz’s TV show. Mr. Trump’s new note from his doctor declaring “excellent physical health” cited various tests over the last three years but releasing nothing beyond cursory details.
Mr. Trump, after releasing his health information, spent Thursday laying out plans to lower taxes by $4.4 trillion over a decade and cut regulations. The Republican said his plans would raise the nation’s economic growth rate to at least 3.5 percent, well above its current rate of about 2 percent, and create 25 million new jobs over the next 10 years.
The heart of Mr. Trump’s plan is a revised tax code, which includes a pledge that no business should pay more than 15 percent of its income in taxes, down from the current 35 percent highest corporate tax rate. Few businesses now pay the full 35 percent rate, taking advantage instead of many deductions in the existing tax code.
Earlier, while at “The Dr. Oz Show,” Mr. Trump said that as president he would use Medicaid to cover poor people who can’t afford private health insurance, and make birth control available without a prescription.
The comments appeared to differ — in the case of Medicaid — with aspects of Mr. Trump’s own policy proposals on his website.
Later on Thursday at a taping of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” the Republican nominee agreed to let the talk-show mess up his hair. Mr. Fallon sent Mr. Trump’s locks flying out of control in every direction.
But amid his high-profile appearances and statements Thursday, a copy of a Sept. 9, 2013, check from his personal foundation to a political committee supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi was released by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Charities are barred from engaging in political activities, and Mr. Trump’s signature was scrawled on the improper $25,000 check.
Also, Donald Trump Jr., a son of Mr. Trump, was blasted Thursday for making what many took to be an unseemly Holocaust reference while defending his father when he said that the media was ignoring Ms. Clinton’s lies and distortions, and that if his father did the same thing, it would be “warming up the gas chamber.”