Friday, October 14, 2016
The Trump defence
Is it me or is the American Presidential election getting more and more surreal as an under-fire Donald Trump has gone onto the offensive in an effort to divert attention from his own indiscretions?
The Guardian reports that there was an avalanche of fresh abuse allegations on Thursday after a series of women came forward to dispute his claim that his comments about sexual assault were only empty boasts.
The paper says that the torrent of accusations includes claims from beauty pageant contenders who allege he burst into their dressing rooms to ogle them while they were nude. Nearly a dozen new names have been added to the tally of women who have accused the Republican nominee of inappropriate behavior.
Many say they were galvanised into speaking by Trump’s denials during Sunday’s presidential debate, where he dismissed a recording of him bragging about groping women as “locker room talk” and insisted they were “words not action”.
Trump's reaction is to dismiss the accusations as a vast establishment conspiracy, orchestrated by his opponent Hillary Clinton “as part of a concerted, coordinated and vicious attack”:
“There is nothing the political establishment will not do, no lie they won’t tell to hold their prestige and power at your expense and that’s what’s happening,” he told a rally in Florida. “The establishment has trillions of dollars at stake in this election.”
In his speech Trump said: “I never knew it would be this vile, this vicious,” he told the crowd in Florida. “Nevertheless I take all of these slings and arrows gladly for you. I take them for the movement so we can have our country back.”
He added: “I will not allow the Clinton machine to turn our campaign into a discussion of their slanders and lies, but will remain focused on the American people. The only thing Clinton has going for her is the press. Without the press she is nothing.”
Nevertheless, his response to the new claims took up almost the entire speech and Trump refused to take questions on them, dismissing from the room a reporter who asked about them beforehand and calling him “a sleazebag”.
The irony here of course is that Trump built his entire Presidential campaign on a series of personal insults and slurs against his opponents. As Corporal Jones repeatedly says in Dads Army: "They don't like it up 'em"
The Guardian reports that there was an avalanche of fresh abuse allegations on Thursday after a series of women came forward to dispute his claim that his comments about sexual assault were only empty boasts.
The paper says that the torrent of accusations includes claims from beauty pageant contenders who allege he burst into their dressing rooms to ogle them while they were nude. Nearly a dozen new names have been added to the tally of women who have accused the Republican nominee of inappropriate behavior.
Many say they were galvanised into speaking by Trump’s denials during Sunday’s presidential debate, where he dismissed a recording of him bragging about groping women as “locker room talk” and insisted they were “words not action”.
Trump's reaction is to dismiss the accusations as a vast establishment conspiracy, orchestrated by his opponent Hillary Clinton “as part of a concerted, coordinated and vicious attack”:
“There is nothing the political establishment will not do, no lie they won’t tell to hold their prestige and power at your expense and that’s what’s happening,” he told a rally in Florida. “The establishment has trillions of dollars at stake in this election.”
In his speech Trump said: “I never knew it would be this vile, this vicious,” he told the crowd in Florida. “Nevertheless I take all of these slings and arrows gladly for you. I take them for the movement so we can have our country back.”
He added: “I will not allow the Clinton machine to turn our campaign into a discussion of their slanders and lies, but will remain focused on the American people. The only thing Clinton has going for her is the press. Without the press she is nothing.”
Nevertheless, his response to the new claims took up almost the entire speech and Trump refused to take questions on them, dismissing from the room a reporter who asked about them beforehand and calling him “a sleazebag”.
The irony here of course is that Trump built his entire Presidential campaign on a series of personal insults and slurs against his opponents. As Corporal Jones repeatedly says in Dads Army: "They don't like it up 'em"
