WASHINGTON _ Hillary Clinton is thinking beyond Election Day as her campaign unveiled an anti-bullying policy to help heal wounds caused by Donald Trump's campaign-trail attacks on minorities, women, Muslims and the disabled.
States would receive $4 in federal funding for every $1 in new money they spend on anti-bullying initiatives such as teacher training, suicide prevention, new support staff hires or support for victims of bullying.
The expenditure would require congressional approval and would be paid for by tax increases for the wealthiest Americans, aides said.
Educator Anne McQuade and Tony Coelho, former chairman of the President's Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities, stumped for the policy Thursday during a press call outlining the plan.
"Since Donald Trump officially became the Republican nominee for president, many of my refugee and immigrant students have to come ask questions that revolve around 'What if?' ... A lot of them fear they'll be deported or separated from family members or sent back to nations where their lives were in danger," said McQuade, who teaches English-language learners in Manchester, N.H., which is a federal resettlement community.
"They've seen war and destruction and death, and they're hopeful when they come to America. They've been told about the American dream, but they're met with statements from Trump," she said. "We have this powerful man running for president and demonstrating bias, racism and gender abuse. What message are we sending to our children?"
Coelho said Trump "has brought the hate back" by mocking and stigmatizing disabled people.
He said he is encouraged by new studies that show bullying is decreasing, and he attributes the gains to efforts by the Obama administration. But he and other Clinton supporters are concerned that the effect of Trump's rhetoric hasn't yet emerged fully.
"I'm sure those numbers are going to go up. ... It's scary what Trump has done," Coelho said. "The question is: When Hillary becomes president, can she reverse that the other way again?"
A spokesman for the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania had no immediate comment, but last week, Melania Trump told CNN that as first lady she would take up the issue of cyberbullying.
That despite her husband's string of offensive tweets. He has called Maureen Dowd a "neurotic dope," former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley "a clown" and television personality Glen Beck "a real nut job."
Asked about those kinds of tweets, Melania Trump told CNN she gives her husband advice but he doesn't always listen.
