Independent presidential candidate and a former Central Intelligence Agency operations officer Evan McMullin on Friday said Republican Donald TrumpDonald TrumpIndependent candidate: “Trump may have been “blackmailed” by Putin Trump, Clinton aides spar over “basket of deplorables” Report: “Most industries’ donors backing Clinton MORE may be lavishing praise on Russian Federation and its leader because he’s being blackmailed”.
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The Republican nominee was expected as star guest at a Washington gathering of grassroots activists, conservative stalwart lawmakers and leaders in the anti-abortion and religious freedom movements.
“I think it’s inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country”, said Trump’s vice presidential candidate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence in an interview with CNN on Thursday.
Activists in the U.S. capital were painting President Barack Obama’s administration as having rolled back the rights of Americans seeking to practice their religion free from government interference. “I never thought I’d see the day where this has happened to our country”, he added.
Rudy Giuliani, the former NY mayor and a Trump surrogate, made a surprise appearance at the gathering to slam Clinton and highlight global terror threats just two days before the nation marks the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks of 2001.
In that vein his campaign has taken steps to distance the Republican nominee from his years-long propagation of the “birther” conspiracy theory that Obama was not born in the United States.
In an appearance Friday morning, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway tried to moderate her client’s position, claiming that Ryan and others has misunderstood his comments.
Trump sought on Friday to blame Clinton after reports that North Korea had tested a nuclear weapon, arguing it was the fourth such test since the Democrat became secretary of state in 2009 and that she should have ended the nation’s nuclear program before her tenure ended in early 2013.
“Oh you did. A few of you did”, Trump acknowledged as the crowd laughed.
“I feel there is a dark cloud over the country now, and we are all witness to Hillary Clinton’s lies and corruption”, said actor Jon Voight, father of Academy Award victor Angelina Jolie.
The White House said it had no comment on Trump’s remarks.
What truly was shocking, though, was Trump supporters’ collective rush to the amen corner.
In an interview with Bloomberg before the G-20 meetings, Putin derided the shock tactics of both Trump and Clinton.
“If he doesn’t even respect all Americans, how can he serve all Americans?” “He tweets and retweets offensive, hateful, mean-spirited rhetoric”.
She will also attend an evening fundraiser in the city featuring legendary singer and actress Barbra Streisand.
Clinton blasted Trump for appearing on the network and praising Putin, as he had done on Wednesday night during a televised national security forum.
Hillary, a former United States senator representing NY, will attend the ceremony at Ground Zero tomorrow.
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Meanwhile, the billionaire who had doubled down on his rival over what he called a “pay-to-play” game of giving fat cat Clinton foundation donors fast-track “access” to her, faced scrutiny over his own gifts to some politicians.
