The U.S. presidential campaign’s focus shifted to national security on Tuesday as Republican Donald Trump pledged to help female veterans during a Virginia Beach campaign stop, and with Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine set to deliver a related speech in North Carolina.
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“Hillary has a plan to support our allies to weaken the Kremlin’s hand and to advance America’s long-standing commitment to a Europe that is free, whole and at peace”, Kaine stated. A Washington Post/Survey Monkey poll said Tuesday that its massive poll of 74,000 registered voters over the last three weeks of August shows Clinton with an advantage in the electoral college because she is winning states with bigger populations. A Clinton victory in Florida would make it virtually impossible for Trump to overcome her advantage in the race for 270 electoral votes.
Citing the prospect of dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said of Clinton: “Putin looks at her and he laughs”.
He said the release of Trump’s military endorsements earlier Tuesday underscores the qualifications of the people he’d listen to as president.
And her super PAC, Priorities USA, is launching a $5 million ad buy in the swing states North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Nevada, Iowa and New Hampshire on Friday with a spot titled “I Love War”.
The former secretary of state flatly said “No”, when asked in an ABC News interview whether she’d be willing to accept the Mexican president’s invitation to visit the country, as Trump did last week.
Both candidates will address national security issues at a forum in New York City scheduled for Wednesday night. “He laughs. Putin looks at Hillary Clinton and he smiles”. “These are our fighters”, Trump said.
Clinton told reporters aboard her campaign plane en route to Florida that Trump’s views offer “yet another strong piece of evidence as to why he should never be anywhere near the White House”.
The Clinton campaign has released an ad showing some veterans watching some of Trump’s more belligerent statements, including his claim that he knows more about the Islamic State than generals do.
He added, “She didn’t have the energy to go to Louisiana”.
Late last week, 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 NY home.
On Tuesday Ms Clinton interrupted her stump speech involuntarily in a coughing spell – and wryly blamed the incident on her rival Trump.
The day before, Trump attacked Clinton’s energy level, noting she hasn’t followed his aggressive traveling schedule and questioning whether she had the stamina to lead the nation. Beyond Russia, she answered questions about the ongoing controversy surrounding her use of a private email server while secretary of state, which Trump has used to cast doubt over her ability to protect classified information.
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“This isn’t the first time Donald Trump has had a problem looking at someone different from himself and actually seeing them”, said Clinton deputy communications director Christina Reynolds.
