BANGOR, Maine - Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump assailed his rival Hillary Clinton and accused the media of helping rig an election that pundits suggest is slipping out of his grasp during a rally in Bangor on Saturday.
Unlike rallies in recent days, Trump mostly steered clear of specifically attacking the nearly dozen women who have come forward this week to allege that the real estate mogul and TV personality had sexually assaulted them or made unwanted advances. Instead, he addressed the allegations broadly, saying they were part of a massive conspiracy to derail his candidacy.
“The corrupt media is pushing false allegations and outright lies to get crooked Hillary elected,” Trump said. He added, “It’s a rigged system. We’re going to stop it. We’re going to stop it.”
Trump devoted less than half of his speech to attacking Clinton, the Obama administration and the media. The other half was a broad description of a lawless nation in crisis, and a reiteration of his previous campaign promises: halting illegal immigration, defeating terrorism and renegotiating trade deals.
Trump also focused on Maine’s opioid crisis, linking the problem to illegal immigration. He also took aim at President Obama’s decision to designate more than 87,000 acres in the North Woods as a national monument. He said the transfer of land donated by Roxanne Quimby to the federal government would hurt the forest products industry. “The forest industry is very important to you. They don’t care about you. They don’t care about you,” he said.
Trump’s visit to Bangor was part of a three-state swing on Saturday that included New Hampshire and New Jersey. It was his fourth visit to Maine, where he hopes to take advantage of the state’s unique way of awarding its electoral votes.
Trump did not repeat comments he made at the preceding rally in Portsmouth, N.H., where he said Clinton was “getting pumped up" with performance-enhancing drugs. He also challenged her to take a drug test before the final debate next week.
Trump did say Clinton was a criminal for the controversy surrounding her private email server. “She should have been prosecuted and gone to jail for what she did,” he said.
The crowd responded, “Lock her up! Lock her up!”
Unlike Trump’s three previous events, Gov. Paul LePage neither attended nor introduced the Republican nominee. A Maine Republican Party spokeswoman said the governor attended a different event, but would not say where it was.
LePage told reporters Wednesday that he would attend the rally if the Trump campaign invited him. The governor said at the time that he had not yet heard from the campaign.
Trump was instead introduced by U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. “This might be our last chance to get this country on the right track again,” Sessions said.
Trump is attempting to split Maine’s four electoral votes for the first time in modern history. Maine is one of just two states that doesn’t award its electoral votes by winner-take-all. Instead, a candidate can win one vote if he or she beats their opponent in one of the state’s two congressional districts.
Trump has focused his efforts on Maine’s rural, more conservative 2nd Congressional District. His rally Saturday was his second in Bangor this year.
Polls conducted in early September suggest he’s positioned to make history, and some statistical analysis of the Republican’s path to victory suggests Maine could have an outsized impact on the race if Trump wins several key swing states.
However, new polls taken after several bombshell reports about Trump’s business losses, tax returns and the leaked tape of him discussing groping women and using his celebrity to force himself on them suggest a shifting dynamic.
Those surveys show Clinton pulling ahead in key states while narrowing deficits in Republican strongholds. Polling averages posted by Real Clear Politics show Clinton with a nearly 7-point lead and leading in eight of 14 battleground states.
Some Republicans have withdrawn their endorsements; others, like former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have said Trump should drop out. Trump has responded by going on the attack, announcing earlier this week that he’s “unshackled.”
The result has been what national pundits have described as a scorched earth campaign designed to dissuade voters from turning out on Election Day. The strategy hinges on keeping Trump’s supporters energized in the hope that they will outnumber Clinton voters. National polls suggest Clinton is hampered by an enthusiasm gap.
On Friday, Trump said during rallies that the women who have accused him of sexual assault and unwanted advances were liars. In at least one instance, he said two women weren’t attractive enough to interest him.
In both the New Hampshire and Maine rallies, Trump continued his trend of speaking primarily to conservative voters. He vowed to protect the 2nd Amendment, to defend religious liberty and slash taxes - all conservative talking points.
He also continued to insist that he was leading a populist movement. “On Nov. 8 the arrogance of Washington D.C. will come face to face with the righteous judgment of the American voter,” Trump said.
