Clinton claims mantle of workers champion

In Utah, Trump admits his style a problem

Hillary Clinton said Thursday in Warren, Mich., that she offers steady leadership to guide the economy, adding that “insults and bullying” were not the way to get things done.
Hillary Clinton said Thursday in Warren, Mich., that she offers steady leadership to guide the economy, adding that “insults and bullying” were not the way to get things done.

WARREN, Mich. -- Hillary Clinton attempted to undercut Donald Trump's claim to working-class voters Thursday, portraying her Republican rival as untrustworthy on economic issues and an advocate of policies that would benefit only the super-wealthy.

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AP

Donald Trump addresses a gathering of pastors Thursday in Orlando, Fla. Earlier, Trump stuck to his accusation that President Barack Obama was the “founder” of the Islamic State militant group.

The Democratic presidential nominee sought to seize momentum as Republicans -- including Trump -- struck a nearly defeatist note about their Election Day chances. As Republican leaders sounded alarms about Trump's unconventional approach, Clinton attacked what she dubbed "outlandish ideas" that have been rejected by both parties.

"Based on what we know from the Trump campaign, he wants America to work for him and his friends, at the expense of everyone else," she said at the Futuramic Tool & Engineering factory.

Appearing in Macomb County, Mich., which is known for its so-called Reagan Democrats -- working-class Democrats who voted Republican in the 1980s -- Clinton tried to seize the opportunity to win back some of the blue-collar voters who've formed the base of her rival's support, making the case that she offers a more realistic path to economic growth and prosperity.

"I can provide serious, steady leadership that can find common ground and build on it based on hard but respectful bargaining," she said. "I just don't think insults and bullying is how we're going to get things done."

Clinton, who frequently boasts about her numerous policy plans, didn't offer any new ideas to improve the economy in her afternoon address. She reiterated her opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, leaving herself little room for backtracking should she win the White House and the issue is taken up by the lame-duck Congress later this year.

"I oppose it now, I'll oppose it after the election, and I'll oppose it as president," she said, while also noting that the U.S. should not cut itself off from the rest of the world.

Clinton once called the Trans-Pacific Partnership the "gold standard" of trade deals when she served as President Barack Obama's secretary of state but announced her opposition to the deal last year, saying it did not meet her standard for creating jobs, raising wages and protecting national security.

Clinton touted earlier-released proposals to make public college tuition-free for families making up to $125,000 a year, prod companies to increase profit-sharing opportunities and raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

More broadly, Clinton argued that Trump's economic plan is weighted too heavily toward helping the wealthy and corporations and that it would "balloon the national debt." She drew laughter and applause for accusing Trump of offering an "even more extreme version of the failed theory of trickle-down economics, with the addition of his own unique Trumpian spin -- outlandish ideas that even many Republicans reject."

She also attacked Trump on his signature economic proposal, a promise to renegotiate the terms of trade with China and other countries.

"He may talk a big game on trade, but his approach is based on fear, not strength," she said, adding a reference to Olympic athletes: "If Team USA was as fearful as Trump, Michael Phelps and Simone Biles would be cowering in the locker room. Instead, they're winning gold medals. America isn't afraid to compete."

Trump's campaign responded to the speech with a flurry of news releases highlighting Clinton's support of some past trade deals and claiming she would "100% enact the TPP if she gets the chance." One release's headline called Clinton a "trickle-down globalist."

The jurisdiction of Clinton's speech, at a company that expanded its auto-supply business into the defense and aerospace industries, was selected with electoral politics in mind. Macomb County has sided with the Democratic nominee four times and the Republican nominee four times during the past eight presidential elections. It is key to Trump's chance of carrying Michigan in November.

Clinton praised the company that hosted her for being "on the front lines of what we hope will be a true manufacturing renaissance."

Hoping to keep the pressure on Trump, Clinton also is planning to release her 2015 tax returns in the coming days. Trump has said he won't release them until an IRS audit is complete, breaking tradition with every presidential candidate in recent history.

A source close to Clinton said she soon would release the return, supplementing the decades of filings she and her husband already have made public. Her running mate, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and his wife also will release the past 10 years of their taxes. The source spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans in advance.

Clinton's Thursday remarks came after Trump's own speech on the economy, which he delivered Monday in Michigan. But his speech was eclipsed later by blunders that had fellow Republicans scrambling to bolster the party's prospects in the general election.

Letter to Priebus

Just hours before her address, Trump unleashed another round of attacks on Democrats, repeating his claim that Obama is the "founder" of the Islamic State militant group -- and alleging that Clinton is the group's co-founder.

Trump first accused Obama of founding the Islamic State during a campaign rally Wednesday night.

On Thursday morning, he brushed off conservative radio commentator Hugh Hewitt's attempt to reframe Trump's observation as one that said Obama's foreign policy created the conditions in Iraq and Syria that allowed the Islamic State to thrive.

"Last night, you said the president was the founder of ISIS," Hewitt said. "I know what you meant. You meant that he created the vacuum, he lost the peace."

"No, I meant he's the founder of ISIS. I do," Trump responded, using an acronym to refer to the extremist group that has wreaked havoc from the Middle East to European cities. "He was the most valuable player. I give him the most-valuable-player award. I give her, too, by the way, Hillary Clinton."

Hewitt asked Trump if he would acknowledge that Obama hates the Islamic State, noting that the president is "trying to kill [Islamic State militants]." Over the past two years Obama has organized a broad coalition of countries and launched more than 10,000 U.S. airstrikes to defeat the Islamic State.

"I don't care," Trump replied. "He was the founder. The way he got out of Iraq -- that was the founding of ISIS, OK?"

Trump's statements shook Republicans already rattled by polls showing Trump losing support among women and other segments of their party's base.

Dozens of frustrated Republicans gathered signatures Thursday for a letter to Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus that urges the party chief to stop helping Trump and instead focus GOP resources on protecting vulnerable Senate and House candidates. Speaking to reporters Thursday in Kentucky, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell described Republicans' chances of keeping control of the Senate after the November elections as "very dicey."

A draft of the letter, which operatives say has at least 70 signatories, warns that Trump's "divisiveness, recklessness, incompetence, and record-breaking unpopularity risk turning this election into a Democratic landslide."

The Republican National Committee did not respond to a request for comment. But Trump, in a Fox News interview, said he wasn't concerned that the GOP would cut him off.

"All I have to do is stop funding the Republican Party," he said.

Trump said earlier Thursday in a CNBC interview that he had no intention of changing his inflammatory approach to presidential politics, pledging to "just keep doing the same thing I'm doing right now."

But he seemed to acknowledge the risk his campaign -- and party -- was taking.

"If at the end of 90 days, I've fallen short ... even though I'm supposed to be the smart one and even though I'm supposed to have a lot of good ideas, it's OK. I go back to a very good way of life," he said.

The businessman's most explicit concession of his campaign's challenges came Thursday as he pleaded for support at a gathering of evangelical ministers, where Trump observed he was "having a tremendous problem in Utah."

He made his remarks the same day he acknowledged that his lack of political correctness could cost him the election if Americans reject his blunt approach.

"We're having a problem," Trump told the ministers, adding that the next president could get to nominate up to five high court justices. "It could cost us the Supreme Court."

In Utah, typically a Republican state, the state's large Mormon population has voiced skepticism about Trump, though the state's GOP governor has endorsed him.

"We've really been given a false narrative," Trump said of his struggles in Utah.

GOP strategist Mike DuHaime, who advised the campaign for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, said there could be benefits to Trump's newfound self-awareness.

"Showing some vulnerability, admitting there are some vulnerabilities, humanizes him and could potentially make him more likable," DuHaime said.

Information for this article was contributed by Catherine Lucey, Lisa Lerer, Steve Peoples, Jill Colvin and Josh Lederman of The Associated Press; by John Wagner, Jim Tankersley, Tom Hamburger and Sean Sullivan of The Washington Post; and by Mike Dorning of Bloomberg News.

A Section on 08/12/2016

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