Republican Donald Trump called Saturday for Hillary Clinton to take a drug test before the candidates face off in their third debate next week, while a ninth woman came forward to accuse him of assaulting her.
Republican Donald Trump called Saturday for Hillary Clinton to take a drug test before the candidates face off in their third debate next week, while a ninth woman came forward to accuse him of assaulting her.
“I think we should take a drug test prior to the debate. Why don’t we do that?” Trump told a rally in New Hampshire before declaring of Clinton, “I don’t know what’s going on with her.”
Trump implied that Clinton had begun the last debate “all pumped up” on some sort of drug but could barely make it to her car by the end of the 90-minute contest.
He offered no evidence to support his claim.
Trump has repeatedly sought to raise questions about Clinton’s health, questioning her stamina and pointing to a recent bout of pneumonia as well as a concussion she suffered while serving as secretary of state.
Trump and Clinton will square off in their final televised debate on Wednesday evening ahead of November 8 elections.
Trump has struggled in opinion polls since a poor performance at the first debate followed by controversy over a 2005 video tape showing him talking lewdly about grabbing women’s genitals and allegations by several women that he had sexually assaulted them.
On Saturday, a ninth woman came forward to say that Trump had grabbed and tried to kiss her at a Mother’s Day brunch at his Mar-a-Lago estate in 1997 when she was introduced to him and became angry when she twisted away.
“And he said, ‘Oh, come on.’ He was strong. And he grabbed me and went for my mouth and went for my lips,” Cathy Heller, now 63, told the Guardian.
She was angry and shaken, she said, adding that the billionaire seemed to feel “entitled” to kiss her.
Trump has charged repeatedly in recent days that the election is rigged against him and that Clinton and the media have colluded on false sexual assault charges.
“Hillary Clinton should have been prosecuted and should be in jail. Instead she is running for president in what looks like a rigged election,” he tweeted on Saturday.
“Nothing ever happened with any of these women. Totally made up nonsense to steal the election. Nobody has more respect for women than me!” he added later.
At a rally in North Carolina on Friday he suggested that at least one of the women who have made accusations against him was not attractive enough for him to have been interested in her and also appeared to criticize Clinton’s appearance at their second debate.
“She walks in front of me, she walks in front of me, you know. And when she walked in front of me, believe me I wasn’t impressed,” he said of his rival.
The Clinton campaign on Saturday called Trump’s attempts to paint the election as unfair as “shameful attempts to undermine an election weeks before it happens.”
“Participation in the system — and particularly voting — should be encouraged, not dismissed or undermined because a candidate is afraid he’s going to lose,” campaign manager Robby Mook said.
(NAN)
