Clinton, Trump war of words escalates as race narrows
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, sensing the urgency of a presidential campaign entering its home stretch, assailed one another on multiple fronts and in coarse terms Tuesday as new data showed the candidates in a dead heat.
It was another day of scathing rebukes, intense rhetoric and tit-for-tat accusations as the bitter rivals sought to claim the advantage with voters just nine weeks before the Nov. 8 election.
In Florida, Clinton branded Trump a "demagogue" and declared his campaign to be "one long insult."
After the brash billionaire made a sudden trip to Mexico last week to meet President Enrique Pena Nieto, Clinton said Trump choked because he failed to discuss his demand that Mexico pay for Trump's border wall. "Let me just tell you about choking," Trump fumed to ABC. "I don't choke. She chokes."
Trump has edged ahead of Clinton in a new CNN/ORC poll, at 45 percent to 43 percent among likely voters, while an NBC News poll of registered voters shows Clinton's lead holding at six percentage points, 48 percent to 42 percent. Another survey, by The Washington Post, looking at all 50 states shows Clinton with a solid lead in terms of electoral college votes, and even strength in some traditional Republican strongholds. Clinton said she pays no attention to polls. "We are sticking with our strategy, we feel very good about where we are," she said. But the polls show how close the race is looking ahead of the vote, making the battle for the so-called swing states all the more critical.
Clinton rallied supporters at a voter registration event in swing state Florida, while the billionaire real estate mogul held a town hall meeting with military veterans before heading to North Carolina for an evening campaign rally. The candidates have less than three weeks before the first of three scheduled presidential debates - expected to be the most watched moments of an already raucous campaign.
Clinton, in the national eye for three decades, shrugged off the intense nature of Republican attacks against her, including a call for a fresh congressional investigation of the Clinton Foundation following reports that donors gained inappropriate access to her while she was secretary of state.
Clinton said Trump was "dead wrong" for saying his tax returns were not the concern of everyday Americans, despite every major presidential nominee since Richard Nixon releasing their taxes before the election.
While Clinton repeated her charge that Trump is "temperamentally unfit" for office, Trump assured veterans in Virginia Beach that he was in their corner, and used the opportunity to slam Clinton's ineffectiveness as a top diplomat and politician.
Clinton is promoting a pathway to citizenship for many of the 11 million people living in the shadows, while Trump wants to curtail immigration and require that those who wish to gain legalized status must leave the country first. The two also exchanged shots about national security, with Trump warning that Clinton would be unable to stand up to adversaries like President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
It was another day of scathing rebukes, intense rhetoric and tit-for-tat accusations as the bitter rivals sought to claim the advantage with voters just nine weeks before the Nov. 8 election.
In Florida, Clinton branded Trump a "demagogue" and declared his campaign to be "one long insult."
After the brash billionaire made a sudden trip to Mexico last week to meet President Enrique Pena Nieto, Clinton said Trump choked because he failed to discuss his demand that Mexico pay for Trump's border wall. "Let me just tell you about choking," Trump fumed to ABC. "I don't choke. She chokes."
Trump has edged ahead of Clinton in a new CNN/ORC poll, at 45 percent to 43 percent among likely voters, while an NBC News poll of registered voters shows Clinton's lead holding at six percentage points, 48 percent to 42 percent. Another survey, by The Washington Post, looking at all 50 states shows Clinton with a solid lead in terms of electoral college votes, and even strength in some traditional Republican strongholds. Clinton said she pays no attention to polls. "We are sticking with our strategy, we feel very good about where we are," she said. But the polls show how close the race is looking ahead of the vote, making the battle for the so-called swing states all the more critical.
Clinton rallied supporters at a voter registration event in swing state Florida, while the billionaire real estate mogul held a town hall meeting with military veterans before heading to North Carolina for an evening campaign rally. The candidates have less than three weeks before the first of three scheduled presidential debates - expected to be the most watched moments of an already raucous campaign.
Clinton, in the national eye for three decades, shrugged off the intense nature of Republican attacks against her, including a call for a fresh congressional investigation of the Clinton Foundation following reports that donors gained inappropriate access to her while she was secretary of state.
Clinton said Trump was "dead wrong" for saying his tax returns were not the concern of everyday Americans, despite every major presidential nominee since Richard Nixon releasing their taxes before the election.
While Clinton repeated her charge that Trump is "temperamentally unfit" for office, Trump assured veterans in Virginia Beach that he was in their corner, and used the opportunity to slam Clinton's ineffectiveness as a top diplomat and politician.
Clinton is promoting a pathway to citizenship for many of the 11 million people living in the shadows, while Trump wants to curtail immigration and require that those who wish to gain legalized status must leave the country first. The two also exchanged shots about national security, with Trump warning that Clinton would be unable to stand up to adversaries like President Vladimir Putin of Russia.