Sunday, October 2, 2016
Associated Press
MANHEIM, Pa.
Donald Trump questioned Hillary Clinton’s loyalty to her husband Saturday night, adding an explosive personal charge against his Democratic opponent to a turbulent week when he repeatedly veered off script.
“Hillary Clinton’s only loyalty is to her financial contributors and to herself,” Trump told thousands gathered in Manheim, Pa. “I don’t think she’s even loyal to Bill, if you want to know the truth. ... Why should she be, right? Why should she be?”
The extraordinary personal attack, a reference to former President Bill Clinton’s infidelities, came as Trump works to sharpen his focus on the economy – and his Democratic opponent’s shortcomings – as he treks across the Midwestern battlegrounds he needs to become the 45th president of the United States.
The audience roared with approval when Trump, reading from a teleprompter, lashed out at an economic system he said was rigged against everyday Americans. Friends and foes agree he is at his best in those scripted moments.
But Trump’s frequent unscripted moments are often drowning them out – diverting attention from his economic message and alienating women and minorities with early voting already underway in some states.
He raised questions about Clinton’s loyalty to her husband for the first time Saturday night. He also questioned her physical stamina, her mental health and insisted she has contempt for all Americans.
“She should be in prison,” Trump declared as his supporters chanted “Lock her up!”
Trump’s taxes
Trump’s business losses in 1995 were so large that they could have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for as many as 18 years, according to records obtained by The New York Times.
In a story published online late Saturday, the Times said it anonymously received the first pages of Trump’s 1995 state income tax filings in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
The filings show a net loss of $915,729,293 in federal taxable income for the year.