After being roughed over by online critics for his performance moderating back-to-back live interviews with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Matt Lauer made a knowing reference during an interview with comic Dana Carvey on Thursday.
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Earlier in September, US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton blasted Russian Federation for allegedly meddling in the US election in favor of Trump, citing “credible reports” that, she claimed, link Moscow to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) email dump by WikiLeaks.
The interview came as Trump faced sustained criticism for praising Russian President Vladimir Putin, which he has regularly done on the campaign trail – to the discomfort of many members of his own party, who have distanced themselves from the comments.
The rhetorical scuffle comes as the candidates head into the final two months of the campaign, with Trump trying to make up ground on Clinton before the November 8 election.
“I think it’s inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country”, Indiana Governor and Trump Mike Pence said, echoing his running mate on Thursday.
The Democratic nominee accused Mr Trump of galvanising this “irredeemable” group, saying “he has lifted them up”.
Speaking to reporters Thursday morning, Clinton suggested she agreed with Democrats who say she is being held to a different standard in the White House race. “I still believe we need leverage to deal with the Russians, Iranians, Syrians and whether it’s a no fly zone or some other tool”. “Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well”.
Donald Trump is insisting he opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning, even though fact checkers have repeatedly said that claim is false. Being one of the few women sitting for the exam, Clinton says her fellow male test takers heckled her with comments like, “If you take my spot, I’ll get drafted, and I’ll go to Vietnam, and I’ll die”. “If he doesn’t respect all Americans, how can he serve all Americans?”
Less than 24 hours after she made the comments at a private New York City fundraiser, Clinton said in a statement, “last night I was “grossly generalistic” and that’s never a good idea. I regret saying “half” – that was wrong”, she said in the statement. “I don’t know anyone who hasn’t”, said Clinton.
Trump, a NY businessman who has never run for political office before, regularly says things that some consider insulting, racist or off-color. Trump has said far worse about Obama in appearances on US television networks.
Hillary Clinton’s rival in the USA presidential race has raised eyebrows with his praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin, reviled by many in the West over his stance on Ukraine and Syria.
Obama hit back at Trump on Thursday for criticizing his foreign policy record, saying the Republican nominee for the November 8 election was unfit to follow him into the Oval Office and the public should press him on his “outright wacky ideas”. She told the crowd about her gruff Navy father praying by his bed every night and her mother, who experienced love during a tough childhood that grounded her faith.
Many of Clinton’s fundraisers have been closed to the media, but not the one on Friday night.
Clinton, in making her “basket of deplorables” comment, seemed to acknowledge that she was about to oversimplify things.
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The ad was released a day after Clinton touted the support she had received from national security leaders in a brief press conference.
