NOVI, Mich.: Thousands of Michigan voters roared with approval as Donald Trump lashed out at an economic system he said was rigged against everyday Americans. They cheered louder when he declared that Hillary Clinton was to blame.
“I am going to fight so hard for all of you,” the Republican presidential nominee boomed as he read from a teleprompter, “and I am going to bring back the jobs that have been stripped away from you and your country.”
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.
The Friday night speech was the latest example of Trump’s sharpened 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.
But on Twitter and in interviews, the former reality television star this week fueled a self-inflicted political firestorm after an underwhelming debate performance by attacking a former Miss Universe, first seizing on her weight and then calling on the world to view her “sex tape.”
“He’s not going to change. This is who he really is,” said former Minnesota Congressman Vin Weber, a Republican. “It’s ridiculous to even argue this, but if he could stay on message, which is to say if he could be somebody else, he could win.”
Meanwhile, Clinton’s campaign said she raised $154 million last month for her presidential bid.
September was Clinton’s best fundraising month yet, landing $84 million plus another $70 million for Democratic Party committees.
Clinton’s campaign and joint accounts with the party began this month with $150 million in the bank, her aides said.
Trump has not yet reported his September fundraising but said he raised a formidable $18 million for his campaign and the GOP in a single day last week.
Sanders supporters
On Saturday night, Trump unveiled a new strategy to attract Bernie Sanders’ supporters.
In a leaked recording from a February fundraiser, Clinton expressed empathy for young voters who were siding with her primary opponent, saying that for people who don’t see any economic opportunities, the idea that “you could be part of a political revolution is pretty appealing.”
Clinton called them “children of the Great Recession” and added: “And they are living in their parents’ basement. They feel that they got their education and the jobs that are available to them are not at all what they envisioned for themselves.”
Trump sought to turn her words into a new pitch for Sanders supporters, although Sanders himself has endorsed Clinton and denounced Trump. In prepared remarks released by Trump’s campaign ahead of a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump says, “Hillary Clinton thinks Bernie supporters are hopeless and ignorant basement dwellers.”
The hacked recording of Clinton speaking at the fundraiser six months ago in McLean, Va., was published Tuesday by the Washington Free Beacon.
At the fundraiser, Clinton said she had spoken with frustrated young millennials and understood where they were coming from. She questioned the idea of a political revolution, calling it a “false promise,” though she said she didn’t want to dampen idealism. She argued that she too was promising big ideas around health care, education and climate change.