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Donald Trump makes strong push for the veteran vote |
Donald Trump said Tuesday that recently released FBI documents proved
that Hillary Clinton "fails to meet the minimum standard for running
for public office," as both presidential candidates tried to appeal to
military and retired voters in Southern swing states.
At a rally in Greenville, N.C., Trump said Clinton's
use of a private email server for her correspondence while secretary of
state was "disqualifying," a pointed escalation of his case against the
Democratic nominee.
"It’s clear from the FBI report that Hillary Clinton
lied about her handling of confidential information," said Trump, who
added, "This is like Watergate, only it's worse."
Late last week, the FBI published scores of pages
summarizing interviews with Clinton and her top aides from the recently
closed criminal investigation into her use of a private email server in
the basement of her New York home.
The summaries revealed that the FBI identified 13
mobile devices associated with Clinton's two phone numbers, but the
Justice Department was unable to obtain any of them. On another
occasion, an aide to former President Bill Clinton recalled "two
instances where he destroyed Clinton's old mobile phones by breaking
them in half or hitting them with a hammer."
"Who uses 13 different iPhones in four years?" Trump
asked rhetorically Tuesday. "People who have nothing to hide don't
destroy phones with hammers. They don't ... destroy evidence to keep it
from being publicly archived as required under federal law."
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Earlier Tuesday, Clinton accused Trump of insulting America's veterans and pressing dangerous military plans around the globe.
Clinton, addressing supporters in Florida, warned
that Trump would lead the nation back to war in the Middle East. And to
military vets and their families, she pointed anew to his summertime
dust-up with the Muslim parents of a slain American soldier.
“He called the military a disaster,” Clinton said.
“He said, ‘I know more about ISIS than the generals do' ... His whole
campaign has been one long insult to all those who have worn the
uniform."
She also vowed to help the military by giving it the
proper equipment to “dismantle terror networks” and providing members
and ex-members with better mental-health care.
In response, Trump touted a letter from 88 retired
generals and admirals citing an urgent need for a "course correction" in
America's national security policy. At his evening rally, the real
estate mogul suggested that he would rely on the generals to make up for
his own lack of national security inexperience to take on ISIS. He
vowed to give military leaders a "simple instruction" soon after taking
office: "They will have 30 days to submit to the Oval Office a plan for
soundly and quickly defeating ISIS."
Clinton pushed back, saying Trump has lagged in
securing key military supporters compared to past Republican nominees
including John McCain and Mitt Romney. She pointed to her endorsements
from retired Marine Gen. John Allen, who blasted Trump at the Democratic
National Committee, and former CIA deputy director Mike Morell.
Trump also also extolled a new CNN/ORC poll that
shows him leading Clinton 45-43 percent in a four-way race with
Libertarian Gary Johnson at 7 percent and Green Party’s Jill Stein at 2
percent.
The numbers are a stark reversal from mid-August, when Clinton led by roughly 8 percentage points.
“As for polls, I don’t pay much attention,” Clinton
told reporters Tuesday on her new campaign jet en route to Tampa for her
only event of the day.
The Democratic nominee said she is instead focusing
on what she calls Trump’s un-American views on dictators, illegal
immigrants and religious tolerance.
“So dark, so divisive, so dangerous,” Clinton said in
Tampa. “I want to be a president who brings a country together. I’m
glad that [running mate] Tim Kaine and I are running a campaign of
issues, not insults.”
The conflicting messages came as the candidates
prepared to appear at an MSNBC forum Wednesday night on national
security. While they will appear separately and not be on stage at the
same time, it could serve as a warm-up to their highly-anticipated first
presidential debate on Sept. 26 at New York's Hofstra University.
Meanwhile, Clinton's campaign released a new
television ad entitled, "Sacrifice," showing military veterans watching
some of the New York businessman's more provocative statements.
The spot includes clips of Trump claiming to know
more about ISIS than military generals, and his criticism of McCain, the
Republican senator from Arizona and a former prisoner of war. The ad,
which features former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland, a triple-amputee who
served in Vietnam, also keys on Trump's assertion that he has sacrificed
a lot compared to families who have lost loved ones in conflict.
"Our veterans deserve better," reads a line at the
end of the ad, which is airing in Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Nevada and
Pennsylvania.
Clinton spent much of late August fundraising in such
wealthy enclaves as Hollywood and the Hamptons -- for the TV ads,
state-level operations and other campaign expenses needed in the final
62 days of the White House race.
She raised a combined $143 million in August for her
campaign, along with the Democratic National Committee and state parties
-- her best month yet.
Clinton began September with more than $68 million in
her campaign's bank account to use against Trump, who has not yet
released initial fundraising totals for August.
Clinton on Monday used a campaign plane for the first
time this election cycle, a Boeing 737 with about 100 seats for
passengers and crew.
She has since taken serious questions at least twice
from reporters flying with the campaign, in an apparent attempt to quell
criticism that she has avoids the news media and has not held a
full-fledged press conference in 276 days, arguments the Clinton camp
disputes.
Trump flies in a private jet, while his press corps
travels in a separate one. The wealthy businessman on Monday allowed
reporters on his plane, which he said lacks such accommodations, but
vowed to occasionally continue taking questions onboard.