Trump says he’s ‘not toning it down,’ draws jabs

Associated Press

BRIDGEPORT, CONN.

A confident Donald Trump told supporters on Saturday that he’s not changing his pitch to voters, a day after his chief adviser assured Republican officials their party’s front-runner would show more restraint while campaigning.

“You know, being presidential’s easy – much easier than what I have to do,” he told thousands at a rally in Bridgeport, Conn.. “Here, I have to rant and rave. I have to keep you people going. Otherwise you’re going to fall asleep on me, right?”

Trump declared to the crowd that he has no intention of reversing any of his provocative policy plans, including building a wall along the length of the Southern border.

“Everything I say I’m going to do, folks, I’ll do,” he said.

Democrat Hillary Clinton, speaking at a rally in Central Falls, R.I., warned voters that Trump is attempting to modify his positions as he seeks to appeal to a broader audience beyond the Republican primaries.

“Trump keeps saying things like, ‘You know, I didn’t really mean it. It was all part of my reality TV show. Running for president will be on your screen,”’ Clinton said. “Well, if we buy that, shame on us.”

Clinton said Trump wants to “go after every one of the rights we have.” She also ripped into Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s ability to conduct foreign policy, telling the rally inside a high-school basketball gym, “What they say about the world is not only offensive, it’s dangerous.”

The Republican and Democratic front-runners and their rivals campaigned Saturday across the quintet of Northeastern states holding primaries Tuesday: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island and Connecticut. For the Republicans, in particular, the stakes are high as Trump looks to sweep the remaining contests and reach the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination.

Cruz and John Kasich look to thwart Trump’s efforts and force the race into a contested convention.

Cruz addressed around 1,000 supporters in a high school outside Pittsburgh, and though the reception was raucous, the crowd didn’t know how to react to the Texas senator’s opening: “Let me say something that is profoundly painful for someone who grew up as a fan of the Houston Oilers. God bless the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

Clinton’s rival, Bernie Sanders, spoke to a boisterous crowd of mostly young people in Baltimore and railed against big banks and highlighted his differences with Clinton on everything from the minimum wage to free-trade agreements.