Today in Campaign 2016
- Donald Trump was accused by the Clinton campaign of “unhinged” behaviour toward a former Miss Universe winner today after he fired off a tirade of personal attacks against her in the middle of the night. Launching the fourth day of a war of words against Alicia Machado that is causing consternation among Republicans, the party’s candidate accused Machado of having a “disgusting” past after she criticised his attitude toward women.
- In a deposition released on this afternoon, Donald Trump acknowledged that his infamous statement that Mexico was deliberately sending rapists into the United States was planned in advance. In testifying in June in an ongoing court case, prompted when restaurateur Geoffrey Zakarian pulled out of a lease in Trump’s Washington hotel after the presidential candidate’s remarks caused a national furor, Trump insisted his comments were not ad-libbed. However, he made clear that they weren’t scripted and said that he did not anticipate any damage to his brand.
- In a meeting with reporters, Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri ties Trump’s attacks on Alicia Machado following this week’s debate to his attacks on Fox host Megyn Kelly after a debate 14 months ago. Palmieri also denied Trump’s wild accusation that Clinton or her campaign had helped Machado gain American citizenship, and Palmieri said that Clinton would likely address Trump’s latest attack this afternoon at her rally in Coral Springs. “This is our opponent. This is who we’re running against. This is our reality,” Palmieri said.
- Onetime presidential candidate and former House speaker Newt Gingrich compared Hillary Clinton’s citing of Donald Trump’s history of racist and misogynistic comments toward a Venezuelan pageant queen to Clinton’s handling of the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012. “This is the new Benghazi lie,” Gingrich told Sean Hannity on his eponymous radio show, first reported by Buzzfeed News.
- Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s distaste for former Miss Universe Alicia Machado’s alleged appearance in a nonexistent sex tape appears to run counter to his own background, according to a report from Buzzfeed News: Trump appeared as himself in a softcore girl-on-girl pornographic film produced by Playboy in 2000. Trump’s (clothed) role in the Playboy Video Centerfold film features him opening a bottle of champagne and pouring its contents on a Playboy-branded limousine and welcoming a bevvy of Playboy playmates to New York City.
Flashback: The Republican party’s platform declared pornography to be “a public health crisis that is destroying the lives of millions.”
Trump may be trying to spin last night’s 3am Twitter meltdown as proof that he’s got the stamina to be president - “at least you know I will be there, awake, to answer the call!” he tweeted - but Twitter is providing some pretty hilarious rebuttals.
.@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/7gmi5hkUEz
— G O L D I E. (@goldietaylor) September 30, 2016
.@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/LcyBxQfXnR
— Paolo Gregoletto (@TriviumPaolo) September 30, 2016
@realDonaldTrump or, y'know, to tweet stuff
— Dave Smith (@redletterdave) September 30, 2016
@realDonaldTrump @PhilipRucker I suspect that call at 3 am will be necessary because of a Tweet sent at 2:30 am.
— Bob Bierman (@bobbierman) September 30, 2016
@realDonaldTrump that's like saying "hey, at least I work out" when your workout is punching a beehive.
— Adam Mordecai (@advodude) September 30, 2016
Donald Trump made cameo in softcore pornographic film in 2000
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s distaste for former Miss Universe Alicia Machado’s alleged appearance in a nonexistent sex tape appears to run counter to his own background, according to a report from Buzzfeed News: Trump appeared as himself in a softcore girl-on-girl pornographic film produced by Playboy in 2000.
Trump’s (clothed) role in the Playboy Video Centerfold film features him opening a bottle of champagne and pouring its contents on a Playboy-branded limousine and welcoming a bevvy of Playboy playmates to New York City.
“Beauty is beauty, and let’s see what happens with New York,” Trump says in the film.
According to Buzzfeed News, the rest of the film isn’t so PG:
Other scenes from the film feature fully nude women posing in sexual positions, dancing naked, touching themselves while naked, touching each other sensually, rubbing honey on themselves, taking a bath, and dressing in costumes.
The VHS cover of the video reads: ‘From luxuriating in a warm, soapy tub, to reveling at an exclusive night club, Carol and Darlene bare their sex appeal and lead you on a sensual journey of discovery.’
Hacked audio recording: Hillary Clinton sees herself as 'center-left to center-right'
According to a hacked recording of a conversation with campaign donors at a private event in February, according to the Intercept, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton described herself as “center-left to the center-right” as far as how she fits on the political spectrum, a position that will likely not endear her to the liberal Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic party ahead of the election.
On the other side, there’s just a deep desire to believe that we can have free college, free healthcare, that what we’ve done hasn’t gone far enough, and that we just need to, you know, go as far as, you know, Scandinavia, whatever that means, and half the people don’t know what that means, but it’s something that they deeply feel.
So as a friend of mine said the other day, I am occupying from the center-left to the center-right. And I don’t have much company there. Because it is difficult when you’re running to be president, and you understand how hard the job is - I don’t want to overpromise. I don’t want to tell people things that I know we cannot do.
"I'm spending $100 million." – Donald Trump, nearly doubling the amount of money he's personally spent on his presidential campaign
— Scott Bixby (@scottbix) September 30, 2016
Updated
Donald Trump isn’t the only politician who’s gone on a tweetstorm today:
Is this what keeps you up at night, @realDonaldTrump? Thinking of new & interesting ways to call women fat or ugly or sluts?
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016
You never tweet at 3am with ways to help students getting crushed by debt or seniors struggling on Social Security, @realDonaldTrump.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016
You never tweet at 3am with ways to create new jobs for workers or hold Wall Street accountable, @realDonaldTrump.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016
Nope, @realDonaldTrump: the only things that keep your mind racing at night are your next racist, sexist tweets & disgusting lies.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016
A thin-skinned bully who thinks humiliating women at 3am qualifies him to be President does not understand America & is not fit to lead.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016
In a deposition released on Friday afternoon, Donald Trump acknowledged that his infamous statement that Mexico was deliberately sending rapists into the United States was planned in advance.
In testifying in June in an ongoing court case, prompted when restaurateur Geoffrey Zakarian pulled out of a lease in Trump’s Washington hotel after the presidential candidate’s remarks caused a national furor, Trump insisted his comments were not ad-libbed. However, he made clear that they weren’t scripted and said that he did not anticipate any damage to his brand.
In the aftermath of the comments, which came when Trump announced his candidacy on 16 June 2015, the real estate developer saw a number of former business partners pull out of commercial enterprises with him including Macy’s and Univision. In addition to Zakarian, chef José Andrés also pulled out of a planned restaurant project in the same hotel.
The multi-hour deposition was released by a court order on Friday after a number of organizations, led by Buzzfeed, sued to have the video unsealed. Trump insisted that his comments should not be controversial because “I’ve been making this statement for many years. This is not just new.” He also insisted that he thought his candidacy would draw more Hispanic customers than otherwise, insisting: “I think you will get more business. I think you’ll get more business,” although he acknowledged “it’s always possible” that some might not patronize his hotel as a result.
Donald Trump campaigns in Novi, Michigan
Watch it live here:
Newt Gingrich compares Clinton's citing of former Miss Universe to Benghazi
Onetime presidential candidate and former House speaker Newt Gingrich compared Hillary Clinton’s citing of Donald Trump’s history of racist and misogynistic comments toward a Venezuelan pageant queen to Clinton’s handling of the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012.
“This is the new Benghazi lie,” Gingrich told Sean Hannity on his eponymous radio show, first reported by Buzzfeed News.
“What Hillary tried to set up and what they apparently spent months preparing is an ambush as false as Benghazi,” Gingrich continued. “It was as false as her claim she was under fire in in Bosnia. It was as false as the lies she told on her emails. The elite media, which is Clinton, I mean, they totally identify with her, they took it hook, line and sinker.”
During Monday night’s debate, Clinton made Trump’s past remarks about Machado a centerpiece of their first televised clash, citing the name-calling – in particular, Trump calling her “Miss Housekeeping” in reference to her Latina origins – as a prime example of her opponent’s demeaning views about women.
“They clearly had set it up to be triggered at the debate,” Gingrich continued. “At the last minute, Hillary suddenly realizes she hasn’t gotten it in yet, so you have this total detour to make sure she has gotten the story planted so all that all the news media that are lined up - all of it’s embargoed, all of it’s sitting there waiting.”
Hillary Clinton, on her travel plans:
I’ll be here in Florida so much you’ll get sick of me.
Speaking in Coral Springs, Florida, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton told the audience that Donald Trump’s late-night tweetstorm encouraging American voters to watch a nonexistent sex tape of a Venezuelan pageant queen with whom he has been engaged in a feud is evidence that he is “unhinged” and temperamentally unfit to serve as president.
“Who gets up at three o’clock in the morning to engage in a Twitter attack against the former Miss Universe?” Clinton asked incredulously.
“Why does he do things like that?” she continued. “I mean, his latest Twitter meltdown is unhinged, even for him. It proves, yet again, that he is temperamentally unfit to be president and commander in chief. I have said it before and I’ll say it again: a man who can be provoked by a tweet should not be anywhere near the nuclear codes.”
Hillary Clinton campaigns in Florida
Watch it live here:
If it’s an unnerving experience to have nine-time Grammy winner Mary J Blige close her eyes and sing directly to you about police violence from just a few feet away, Hillary Clinton didn’t show it.
Clinton is the first guest to appear on the hip-hop soul singer’s new show The 411 with Mary J Blige – a reference to her 1992 debut album – now streaming on Apple Music, and it’s definitely a little different from a typical presidential nominee interview.
“May I call you Hillary,” asked Blige, who had been calling her “Secretary Clinton” earlier in the interview.
“Yes, you may,” replied Clinton.
“OK Hillary, I want to share something with you I haven’t shared with anyone,” declared Blige, announcing that she was going to sing her a song: Bruce Springsteen’s 41 Shots, written about Amadou Diallo in 1999, an unarmed black man who was killed by four NYPD officers.
“It means a lot to me just because of everything that’s taking place now,” said Blige, a reference to the recent high-profile examples of unarmed black men and women who have been killed by police.
“I just want to share it with you because believe that so many women, African American women, feel like this when they’re sending their children off to school in the morning,” Blige said.
Yet another reliably conservative newspaper’s editorial board has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, on the heels of a historic anti-endorsement against Donald Trump by USA Today.
The San Diego Union-Tribune, which has not endorsed a Democrat for president in its entire 148-year history, wrote in an editorial released this afternoon that Clinton “has the better temperament to be president - and the experience, background and relationships with world leaders that we need in a president.”
But the lion’s share of the editorial space is reserved to lambaste Trump, who the editorial board calls “vengeful, dishonest and impulsive” who could be the American Hugo Chávez:
We could see an administration that reneges on its treaty commitments to dozens of nations, throwing the world into turmoil and increasing tensions in regions that historically have relied on the United States to be a stabilizing force. We could see an administration that ruins US trustworthiness in international finance by seeking to refinance terms with debt-holders, putting a singular economic power in the same basket as Greece. We could also see an administration that launches a trade war by abandoning Republican tradition and abrogating international trade deals, destroying a framework that has greatly enriched our nation and the world, even if its benefits haven’t been as well-distributed as one would hope.
While acknowledging the “lack of enthusiasm” for Clinton among many voters, the paper’s editorial board wrote that the former secretary of state has displayed a capability for “diplomacy, collaboration, patience,” qualities it lauded in Mitt Romney when the paper endorsed his candidacy in 2012.
Trump, on the other hand, “is no Romney,” making Clinton “the safest candidate for voters to choose in a complex world.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda makes one-song musical about Donald Trump
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Pulitzer-Tony-Emmy-Grammy-MacArthur Genius Grant-winning composer, star of the Broadway sensation Hamilton and also just a really nice guy, has composed a one-song musical about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, inspired by a 272-word sentence Trump spoke at a rally in Sun City, South Carolina:
It’s 3am - do you know where your president is?
That’s the message of a July advertisement produced by pro-Hillary Clinton Super Pac Priorities USA Action, taking a nod from Clinton’s iconic “3 A.M.” advertisement in 2008 to criticize Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as unprepared for and uninterested in serving as president.
After Trump’s late-night tweetstorm in which he urged American voters to watch a nonexistent sex tape of a Venezuelan beauty queen who he has criticized for being overweight - a sentence we never thought we’d type and yet here we are - the advertisement has a new resonance.
“The world is a dangerous place,” a narrator intones, as the camera pans over the White House at 3am. “At any hour, our president could be called on to act calmly, decisively, intelligently.”
Inside the executive mansion, a red phone rings as a Trump sound-alike mocks his nemeses on social media.
“How great is Twitter?” he says to himself. “Boom - just zinged another loser! Hit him with double exclamation, bam!”
Trump continues mocking people on Twitter as the phone rings unanswered.
“Will someone get the damn phone?” the actor finally says. “How annoying. Who is calling me at 3am anyway? Total loser.”
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s sole response to the barrage of criticism after a late-night tweetstorm in which he encouraged American voters to watch a (nonexistent) sex tape of a Venezuelan beauty queen who has criticized Trump for calling her “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Housekeeping”:
For those few people knocking me for tweeting at three o'clock in the morning, at least you know I will be there, awake, to answer the call!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016
Updated
Trump: comments about Mexicans could not have been 'so bad' because after all he was nominated
BuzzFeed has obtained surreal videos of Donald Trump’s deposition in June in a case in which he sued a restaurateur for pulling out of his Washington, DC, hotel project because of terrible things Trump had said about Mexicans.
Trump sued companies connected with restaurateur Geoffrey Zakarian, who pulled out of Trump’s hotel citing Trump’s comments about Mexicans. Trump launched his presidential campaign by saying that Mexicans were rapists bringing guns and drugs to the United States.
A second chef, Jose Andres, also pulled out of the hotel project. Trump is suing him too.
In his deposition, Trump implies the restaurateurs should not have been surprised by his comments because “I’ve been making this statement for many years.”
Trump also said his comments could not have been “so bad” because, after all, a major political party nominated him for president:
“I’m running for office. I obviously have credibility because I now as it turns out became the Republican nominee... so it’s not like, you know, like, uh I’ve said anything that could be so bad because if I said something that’s so bad they wouldn’t have had me go through all these people and win all of these primary races...
Trump said illegal immigration “is a very big topic in this country. And which is a topic that led to my nomination... so it’s not a very out there topic.”
Trump is asked details of the campaign announcement speech.
Q: Was it written?
A: No
Q: Did you plan in advance what you were going to say?
A: Yes
Q: Did you give any thought to [potential brand damage]?
A: No, no I didn’t at all.
Complaining about losing The Apprentice, Trump also mentions that he thinks it is “unfair” that “I’m not allowed to do a show and run for office.”
Hillary Clinton called Alicia Machado, the former Miss Universe under attack from Trump, to express her support, the Clinton campaign said. Spokesman Nick Merrill said Clinton made the call en route to the airport to fly to her afternoon event in Coral Gables, Florida, and he paraphrased the conversation:
On the trip here, they connected. Clinton started by thanking her for all she had done and the courage she has shown, particularly as this became elevated through a war of some pretty unpleasant words.”
Machado responded and said, ‘of course, I’ve supported you for a really long time, I’ll continue to support you.’
The secretary thanked her, Machado then said, ‘I’m voting for the first time in this election, I look forward to voting for you and you are an inspiration to young women all across the country. And I look forward to you being president.’
Updated
Where is everybody? Hello? Everybody?
Lunch time at The DC Trump International Hotel. pic.twitter.com/BTOlqZ9mV9
— Neil King (@NKingofDC) September 30, 2016
The presidential look.
Trump: Ivanka made me promise not to date 'a girl younger than her'
The New York Daily News has uncovered audio of a 1999 Donald Trump interview with Howard Stern in which Trump says, of his daughter Ivanka:
She made me promise or swear to her that I would never date a girl younger than her. So, as she grows older, the field is getting very limited.
Separately, here is a Trump tweet from 2013:
@rexrode_lisa
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2013
"@realDonaldTrump you date girls young enough to be your daughter.That's perverted" Dated. No, that's talent.
Trump at 0% in Detroit – poll
Local ClickonDetroit reports:
Donald Trump receive 0 percent support in the city of Detroit during a recent WDIV/Detroit News poll.
The poll, run from Sept. 27-29, found 39 percent of voters across Michigan supported Trump, placing him roughly 7 points behind Hillary Clinton.
In the Detroit poll, there are important caveats to the data. While the poll surveyed 600 likely voters across Michigan -- a large enough sample size to get meaningful data -- just 39 people were surveyed in the city of Detroit. The smaller sample size in the city increases the margin of error, and there’s almost certainly people living in Detroit who will vote for Trump in November.
Clinton expresses best wishes for a Shana Tova
The Clinton camp marked the start of Rosh Hashanah Sunday with a statement reading in part:
As the High Holiday celebrations begin, I send my best wishes for a Shana Tova – a happy and healthy new year – to Jewish families and communities in the United States, Israel, and around the world.
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are a time for prayer and contemplation. They are a time to recall our past year, take a hard look at what we’ve done and what we’ve said, and ask how we can do better in the year ahead. They challenge us to do the difficult work of self-reflection—key to becoming a better family member, friend, and neighbor.
Our country must do this work as a national community, too. All Americans should question whether we’re doing all that we can to work on “Tikkun Olam”—repairing the world. That means asking ourselves if we could be doing more to help those who are hungry or in need of shelter. If we could be doing more to make sure everyone has access to health care. And if we could be doing more to build a brighter future where no one is left out or left behind.
Trump: Twitter 'very effective'
Trump has done an unexpected interview with Grand Rapids local ABC news, and reporter Andrew Krietz has tweeted key lines:
.@realDonaldTrump on @wzzm13: Twitter is really modern day form of communication -- I find it very effective.
— Andrew Krietz (@akrietz) September 30, 2016
Commenting on USA Today’s editorial warning readers not to vote for him, Trump disparaged the paper, which, in terms of print circulation, is the top newspaper in the country (and not known for having a political axe to grind).
.@realDonaldTrump on @USATODAY's not endorsement: They're not much of a paper; we are doing well in all the polls.
— Andrew Krietz (@akrietz) September 30, 2016
Trump ignored a question from his traveling pool of reporters about his bizarro overnight tweetstorm, however:
Trump ignores qs about his tweets via @finneganLAT pic.twitter.com/oqAxvPO0pr
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) September 30, 2016
(thanks @bencjacobs)
Trump has stopped to pay his respects at the tomb of president Gerald Ford and Betty Ford:
.@realDonaldTrump lays flowers at the tomb of President and Mrs. Ford at the Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, MI. pic.twitter.com/lgM4vRHUUa
— Ali Vitali (@alivitali) September 30, 2016
Trump visited the tomb after touring the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, which is in town. Trump is not scheduled to appear onstage in Novi, Michigan – a Detroit suburb across the state – until 5pm.
Updated
At least they have donuts?
If trump wins OH, it'll be largely organic (and some help from u @robportman). Below is Trump STATE hq on a Sat am. pic.twitter.com/1pq6kEM2hF
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) September 30, 2016
The numbers here are stunning. Polling averages have incumbent Republican senator Rob Portman up 12 points in his re-election bid against former governor Ted Strickland in Ohio.
But the presidential appears to be tied:
Updated
Trump ad uses Clinton's '50 points ahead' line
Here’s a new video ad from Trump hitting Clinton with footage in which she says, “Why aren’t I 50 points ahead? you might ask.”
The ad brings up Clinton’s emails, Isis, and her “basket of deplorables,” to set up the punch line, “do you really need to ask?”
What do you think? Does it work?
Clinton proposes a 'national service reserve'
Clinton proposes a national service reserve. People would be trained, and then in times of crisis would get the call. The network would be activated during a natural disaster, or to meet a public health need such as passing out drinking water in Flint, or to address another community crisis.
Members of the service corps could still hold down full-time jobs, she says. It would be “a true, bipartisan, public-private partnership.”
“Our goal is 5m people spread across all 50 states, and... we want to put a special focus on people under 30.”
“There’s so much work to be done, and so many people who want to help do it.”
Then Clinton elbows Trump:
I don’t think you’ll hear anything about this from my opponent, and you know what, I think that’s a shame, because national service has always been a bipartisan goal...
This should be something that we all can get behind. And when you listen to what’s being said in this campaign, it can be discouraging.. that makes it more important that we come together...
This gets quite a cheer from the crowd:
I’m well aware that candidates usually don’t focus on national service in the final stretch. .. Some people say, well why aren’t you out there beating up on your opponent... and all the rest of it?
Well, I’ll do that, but...
Clinton winds toward her conclusion:
I’m trying to end this campaign focusing on issues that are really close to my heart. And this is one of them.
She coughs. And grows hoarse for a second but talks through it and returns to full volume.
Updated
Readers are much better at asking smart questions than I am, which is why I have been ending each of these articles with a request to get in touch with me. Earlier this week, Alan wrote me an email which asked:
I would like to know more about what supporters of the Greens and Libertarians will actually do on US polling day. Do we expect them to vote for their own lost causes as a principled act of faith, stay at home or switch to a mainstream party?
It’s a great question. For now though, I’m going to set aside what these individuals are going to do on November 8 - partly because I think predictive journalism is having a bad effect on democracy and partly because I haven’t seen enough data to give you a solid answer.
Instead, I want to take one step back and consider just how many Americans are considering a choice that isn’t Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Donald Trump.
There are a lot of them.
Continue reading:
Meanwhile...
Trump motorcade on ground in Grand Rapids just passed train for Barnum and Bailey circus.
— Steve Peoples (@sppeoples) September 30, 2016
(thanks @bencjacobs)
Clinton proposes forgiving student debt for national service
Clinton quote De Tocqueville on America’s “spirit of volunteerism.” Then she says as president she would “make a major push in support of national service.”
She wants to:
- triple Americorps
- double scholarships Americorps volunteers earn
- set up program of college credits for service
- set up college loan forgiveness for service
2 grow the Peace Corps
3 expand service opportunities for people of all ages
Clinton describes importance of service in national life
Clinton says that Americans are good at finding ways to give back to the country. She’s talking about the good-works group Americorps, founded by Bill Clinton, which she says will add its millionth member next month.
Other examples of volunteerism she describes include tutoring students and working in the Peace Corps.
“However you serve, it feels good, doesn’t it? To be part of something bigger than ourselves,” she says. “Service makes us happier, it makes us healthier, and there are studies proving that... it can also help us find our next job or our true calling in life...
Too often Americans can become separated from each other. And I think a lot of people are feeling this way in this election... it magnifies our differences... there aren’t many places where people of all backgrounds... come together in common cause, but service is one of them.
She quotes JFK: “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.”
What if we made it easier for everyone to engage in service? She asks rhetorically. “What if we strengthened the culture of service in America?”
We have a Trump sighting. His plane landed in Grand Rapids, Michigan, moments ago. The Trump reporting pool relays this scene:
About a dozen white men in suits came down the stairs of the plane. Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon, and Steven Mnuchin were among them. At 12:04 pm, Trump came down the stairs and got into a vehicle. At 12:05, the motorcade started rolling.
Updated
Clinton seems like she’s having an upbeat day. She’s smiling through this speech:
“My opponent believes in what he calls a strongman approach... that in no way resembles the strong, vibrant America I know. ... He said, ‘I alone can fix it.’ I alone? Well, we’ve learned that that’s his way. One person getting supreme power and exercising it ruthlessly... but that is not how change happens in America.”
Here’s Clinton. Excited crowd it sounds like.
“We have to make every single day count,” she says, reminding the audience that only 39 days remain until election day.
State polls show shift toward Clinton
There’s a bounty of state polling out this morning showing Clinton with healthy leads in key places:
Three polls post debate in Florida. Clinton has led in all three. Unless there's an insane map, Trump cannot win without Florida.
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) September 30, 2016
Clinton leading 3 new post-debate polls:
— Jason Morrell (@CNNJason) September 30, 2016
Florida
Clinton 46%
Trump 42%
Michigan
Clinton 42%
Trump 35%
New Hampshire
Clinton 42%
Trump 35%
Suffolk poll has largest Clinton lead in Nevada (+6) all year -- but GOP Rep. Joe Heck still leads #NVSen race 38-35 https://t.co/FHZfBfxiTo
— Scott Bland (@PoliticoScott) September 30, 2016
52% of Michigan likely voters say Clinton won the debate, 20% say Trump prevailed, per @ChadLivengood.https://t.co/09BF2htOw1
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) September 30, 2016
"Please proceed Donald," pro-Clinton operative @woodhouseb says in news release spelling out polling with Clinton ahead in 8 battlegrounds. pic.twitter.com/jOwcblZrGy
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) September 30, 2016
Updated
Clinton’s Fort Pierce, Florida, program has just begun. The candidate plans to talk about the importance of national service, and to announce the formation of a national youth service corps.
Eilean Clark, a retired nurse and campaign volunteer, is introducing the candidate.
Clinton spokeswoman: 'this is who we're running against'
In a meeting with reporters, Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri ties Trump’s attacks on Alicia Machado following this week’s debate to his attacks on Fox host Megyn Kelly after a debate 14 months ago.
Palmieri also denied Trump’s wild accusation that Clinton or her campaign had helped Machado gain American citizenship, and Palmieri said that Clinton would likely address Trump’s latest attack this afternoon at her rally in Coral Springs.
“This is our opponent. This is who we’re running against. This is our reality,” Palmieri said. Here’s further, from the press pool report:
It is a pattern with him. And after a bad debate performance, he blamed Megyn Kelly. Now after a bad debate performance, he’s attacking Alicia Machado. It is not apparent to us why he simply can’t stop attacking her. He’s had many opportunities to right the offense that she took to how she was treated 20 years ago...
I certainly don’t think it helps him. I think it is distasteful to voters and backfires on him. ... This is our opponent. This is who we’re running against. This is our reality. We will do as we have done the whole time he has been the general election nominee, which is run our campaign on two tracks. There’s a positive message that she’s delivering but she’s also going to call him out.
Where is he now? Is he awake? ... 5:30 AM it stopped. I don’t understand.”
Sanders tour adds dates
In addition to multiple stops in Iowa Monday, senator Bernie Sanders will head to Minnesota Tuesday to stump for Clinton, the campaign has announced:
On Tuesday, Senator Bernie Sanders will campaign in Minneapolis and Duluth for the Clinton-Kaine ticket. Sanders will discuss Hillary Clinton’s plan to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top, and Donald Trump’s plan, which would benefit himself and other millionaires and billionaires.
Obama, Sanders to hit trail for Clinton
As we wait for Clinton in Fort Pierce – here are three recent news lines from the Clinton campaign.
President Barack Obama will campaign for Clinton in Miami on Wednesday and senator Bernie Sanders will campaign for her in Iowa on Monday.
Meanwhile, Clinton has received the endorsement of the association of flight attendants. In a statement, Clinton said she was “honored” to have the endorsement:
For over 70 years, the Association of Flight Attendants has helped raise wages, benefits, and working conditions for its members all across – and above – America. Over the decades, it has brought our nation’s attention to important issues like discrimination, outsourcing, and equal pay. Every American worker deserves an advocate like the AFA in their corner, and I’m honored to have earned their endorsement.
This is not the first time Donald Trump has expressed an interest in sex tapes. In one Trump’s many appearances on Howard Stern’s radio show he said he had watched a leaked video of Paris Hilton having sex.
The (particularly) creepy thing about this is that Trump said he had known Hilton since she was 12-years-old. Trump said her parents were family friends.
From the Daily Beast:
Now, somebody who a lot of people don’t give credit to but is in actuality very beautiful is Paris Hilton,” Trump told Stern. “I’ve known Paris Hilton from the time she’s 12, her parents are friends of mine, and the first time I saw her she walked into the room and I said, ‘Who the hell is that?’ At 12, I wasn’t interested… but she was beautiful.”
Trump told Stern he had watched Hilton’s tape with his then girlfriend Melania Knauss. The conversation took place after Stern asked Trump to name the “three hottest chicks you’ve seen”.
Trump named Hilton and Keira Knightly. He also named his daughter Ivanka, of whom Trump is a long-time admirer.
The conversation took place in 2003. It is difficult to tell the exact date as the audio has been deleted from Youtube.
But taking 2003 as a starting point, Hilton would have been 21 or 22-years-old, Ivanka Trump would also have been 21 or 22-years-old, and Knightley was likely 18 or 19-years-old.
Donald Trump turned 57 in 2003.
Here’s a live video stream of Clinton’s event in Fort Pierce, Florida, scheduled to start soon:
Clinton: Trump attack on beauty queen 'unhinged'
Hillary Clinton assesses Trump’s early-morning tirade against former beauty queen Alicia Machado and registers a verdict of “unhinged”. This is quite a tweetstorm. We will, by the way, have live video of Clinton from Florida shortly.
What kind of man stays up all night to smear a woman with lies and conspiracy theories?
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 30, 2016
When something gets under Donald's thin skin, he lashes out and can't let go. This is dangerous for a president.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 30, 2016
To Donald, women like Alicia are only as valuable as his personal opinion about their looks. https://t.co/OZv8yg8vjZ pic.twitter.com/PZWmPcORBR
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 30, 2016
We've heard Donald's insults for years, and his policies reflect this disregard—even contempt—for women.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 30, 2016
While Donald continues day 5 of his Machado meltdown, we'll be in Florida talking about national service. You'll want to watch.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 30, 2016
Machado has posted on Instagram that Trump’s attacks of this morning are both false and familiar to her:
Running that through Google translate:
The Republican candidate and his campaign team are again generating attacks, insults and trying to revive slanders and false accusations about my life. All this in order to intimidate, humiliate me and throw me off balance again. The attacks that have emerged are slander and lies cheap generated with bad intentions, which have no foundation that have been spread by sensationalist media. This, of course, is not the first time that I face such a situation. Through their hate campaign, the Republican candidate insists discredit and demoralize a woman, which is definitely one of the most terrifying features. with this, seeking to distract attention from their real problems and its inability to pretend to be the leader of this great country. When I was a young girl, the now candidate, I was humiliated, insulted me, I disrespected publicly, as he usually did privately in the cruelest way. as this happened to me, it is clear over the years that their actions and behavior have been repeated with other women for decades. Therefore, I will keep standing, sharing my story, my absolute support Mrs. Clinton on behalf of women, my sisters, aunts, grandmothers, cousins, friends and female community. My Latin and in general, I want to thank all the support, love and respect, my career, my person as a human being and my family. I became a citizen of this great country because my daughter was born here and because I wanted to exercise my rights, including voting. I will continue standing firm in my lived experience as Miss Universe and you with me supporting me. I’ve been so pleased with many kind words, for so much love. I’m focusing on my busy career, in my work as mother and I will continue taking positive steps for the Latino community, I will continue as activist for women’s rights and respect we deserve. I appreciate all your love and all your support again, thanks. “Thousands of blessings.
Updated
Ari Fleischer was a George W Bush press secretary:
Trump is on the verge of blowing it. Free advice: Focus on Hillary. No one else. Hillary is your opponent. No one else is.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 30, 2016
Reid Epstein is a Wall Street Journal reporter:
As it has been for months, the 2016 winner will be the one who makes the campaign about the other candidate. Trump not helping himself.
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) September 30, 2016
Reminder that Republicans in Congress won't discuss the ongoing terrifying meltdown of the presidential candidate they still endorse.
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 30, 2016
Updated
Trump complains about newspaper's historic anti-endorsement
It kind of seems like Trump is wallowing in losing today? Or is this some kind of plan B? We won’t pretend to read the tea leaves but would appreciate your doing so. What do you make of this, Trump drawing attention to the abandonment of his campaign by Republican mainstays?
The people are really smart in cancelling subscriptions to the Dallas & Arizona papers & now USA Today will lose readers! The people get it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016
The Arizona Republic and Dallas Morning News both endorsed Clinton this year, in each case an historic first for papers that only had endorsed Republicans.
USA Today has chalked up its own first, by expressing an editorial preference in a presidential race for the first time in its (relatively short 34-year) history. The paper has not endorsed Clinton, but on Thursday the paper did, highly unusually, run a non-endorsement of Trump:
In the 34-year history of USA TODAY, the Editorial Board has never taken sides in the presidential race... We’ve never seen reason to alter our approach. Until now.
This year, the choice isn’t between two capable major party nominees who happen to have significant ideological differences. This year, one of the candidates — Republican nominee Donald Trump — is, by unanimous consensus of the Editorial Board, unfit for the presidency.
From the day he declared his candidacy 15 months ago through this week’s first presidential debate, Trump has demonstrated repeatedly that he lacks the temperament, knowledge, steadiness and honesty that America needs from its presidents. [...]
And don’t miss a take published today by a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, not known for its political moderation. Dorothy Rabinowitz warns Republicans that as much as they may hate Hillary Clinton, she’s the only thing standing between the country and disaster:
Her election alone is what stands between the American nation and the reign of the most unstable, proudly uninformed, psychologically unfit president ever to enter the White House.
The Chicago Tribune, meanwhile, has endorsed Libertarian party candidate Gary Johnson.
Updated
The New Hampshire senate candidates, Republican incumbent Kelly Ayotte and Democratic governor Maggie Hassan, are holding a morning debate, which you can watch here. This is a very close race – polling averages have the candidates one point apart – which could determine whether Democrats succeed in their quest to swipe control of the senate from the GOP.
After he exhausted himself on Twitter this morning on the topic of Alicia Machado, Trump attacked the use of anonymous sources, to the mirth/horror of anyone who’s been tracking Trump.
The question is, of all the stories this week with anonymous sources saying damning things about Trump, which one got his goat? Or was it a kind of cumulative effect? Anonymous sources close to the candidate were cited as saying that Trump’s children are unhappy with the current campaign leadership and concerned about the impact on Trump businesses of the campaign, a report that the campaign denied sharply. Other anonymous sources were quoted calling Trump’s debate performance a “disaster”.
What’s Trump reacting to here?
Remember, don't believe "sources said" by the VERY dishonest media. If they don't name the sources, the sources don't exist.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016
Trump himself constantly cites nameless or made-up people to claim support for a product he’s selling one position or another he’s pitching the American public on. Exempli gratia:
An 'extremely credible source' has called my office and told me that @BarackObama's birth certificate is a fraud.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2012
Trump, in 80s, famously called NYC papers and had them write as a "source close to Trump" https://t.co/0BYZMMJvhQ
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 30, 2016
Trump’s tactic of refuting charges of misogyny by trying to shame a former beauty queen whom he publicly shamed 20 years ago for gaining weight... how effective, would you say?
I see our favorite serial adulterer who's on this third marriage is criticizing the morality of a woman for allegedly having sex on camera.
— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) September 30, 2016
Why refute misogyny claims when you could prove them? https://t.co/BFYjMZ88Zp
— Lucia Graves (@lucia_graves) September 30, 2016
The actress Kate McKinnon will bring her Hillary Clinton impression to Saturday Night Live this... Saturday. Opposite McKinnon will be Alec Baldwin playing Trump.
Here’s McKinnon this morning explaining what it’s like to impersonate Clinton:
.@nbcsnl's Kate McKinnon on impersonating Clinton: I watch everything she does, I have a lot in common with her https://t.co/P1CRDrmtYH
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) September 30, 2016
What’s the news that Trump is trying to cover up by tweeting wildly about beauty queen Alicia Machado?
We wake up this AM to Trump telling people to watch a sex tape that doesn't exist as a way to distract from the Trump Foundation story.
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) September 30, 2016
Could it be last night’s report by the Washington Post, citing state attorney general’s records, that the Trump foundation never obtained the registration required of charities that solicit more than $25,000 per year?
If the state attorney general finds that Trump’s foundation raised this sum or more from public donations - likely, since Trump himself has not donated to the charity personally since 2007 - it could be ordered to cease fundraising activities, or even to refund the money it has raised.
But there’s been so much bad news to come out about the Trump foundation, it’s difficult to understand how Trump’s nuclear media strategy might be triggered by one more negative headline.
Maybe there’s not a strategy?
Or maybe the Trump campaign is trying to get ahead of reports of an historic violation of the Cuba embargo, with Newsweek alleging that the Republican nominee spent at least $68,000 in the island dictatorship in 1998, while investigating potential business opportunities:
Or maybe there’s not a strategy?
The Clinton campaign does not seem too bothered:
Oh look, Trump is dominating the news cycle again. Whatever will we do.
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) September 30, 2016
Hello and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the 2016 race for the White House. Hillary Clinton has two rallies scheduled in Florida today while Donald Trump is in Michigan.
Trump has again attacked a former beauty pageant contestant introduced by Clinton at Monday’s debate as an example of a woman whom Trump has objectified and insulted.
Trump has invited the country to watch a “sex tape” that he says involves Alicia Machado, who was crowned Miss Universe when Trump ran the pageant in 1996. It’s unclear whether such a tape exists. Machado, who is now an American citizen, has done a string of interviews this week describing how Trump publicly shamed her for gaining weight after winning the pageant.
The Trump campaign has attacked Machado all week. This morning the candidate himself has taken up the attack. It has been a week of difficult headlines for the Trump campaign, with many he might like to distract from. Whatever the case, this is distracting:
Wow, Crooked Hillary was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an "angel" without checking her past, which is terrible!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016
Using Alicia M in the debate as a paragon of virtue just shows that Crooked Hillary suffers from BAD JUDGEMENT! Hillary was set up by a con.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016
Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016
The Guardian’s Lucia Graves spoke with Machado for a profile published this week:
Remarkable Trump Day 4 Twitter tirade against Machado. We'll see how "Miss Housekeeping" plays in Nevada... pic.twitter.com/dycCitrdJZ
— Lucia Graves (@lucia_graves) September 30, 2016
I'm going to assume this is the first time in American history a major nominee has invited the public to watch a sex tape.
— andrew kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) September 30, 2016
Now Mike Pence has to practice a "sex tape" answer all weekend.
— James Oliphant (@jamesoliphant) September 30, 2016
Thanks for reading and please join us in the comments.
