How Donald Trump spent day three of the Democratic convention
Republican nominee Donald Trump completed a rollicking, freewheeling swing-state tour on Tuesday -- a day when he served up some controversial comments in response to allegations of ties to Russia, paired with impressions of comedian Jon Lovitz.
He began his day at his Doral golf resort in Florida, where Trump invited the Russian government to hack into his now-official Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton's email server.
"Russia if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," Trump said to a ballroom filled with reporters who peppered him with questions about his ties to the country. "I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let's see if that happens."
And he only picked up steam from there.
Trump traveled to Scranton, Pennsylvania, along with his running mate, Indiana governor Mike Pence, and was serenaded by a packed gymnasium chanting "Lock her up!" at a deafening level. The chant has become a common one at Trump rallies -- "her" refers to Clinton -- and it originated at the Republican National Convention last week in Cleveland.
The boisterous businessman denied that he had anything to do with the hacking of the Democratic National Committee's emails that caused the ouster of Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, but in Scranton, he said that he wished he had the power to do so.
"I wish I had that power. Man, that would be power," Trump said. In spite of growing evidence cited by security firms that Russia was to blame, he said the hacking "probably, it was China or somebody else." Or, he had another culprit.
"Might be a 400-pound person sitting in bed," Trump said. "Okay? Might be. Some of the greatest hackers of all time."
The anti-Clinton furor was at a fever pitch in Scranton. One man wore a shirt with "Killary" handwritten on. And since it was a Trump rally, the anti-media sentiment was strong as well. Another man paraded in front of the press risers with a hand written sign that said, "Don't Trust The Liberal Media." The quirkiness was also present on the back of another man's shirt, which said that "illegals," liberals, "commies," "media" and "Rosie" should be "fired." "Rosie" was likely referring to Rosie O'Donnell, the comedian that Trump has publicly feuded with over the years.
Clinton's nomination makes her the first woman in history to win the nomination of a major party. However, Trump scoffed at that history and even warned women against putting her in the highest office in the land.
"She's a disaster. She'll set you back a long way, women, if that happens," Trump said. "It'll be a long way before it happens again. You better be careful what you wish for."
It was unclear why the country wouldn't elect a woman for a long time if Clinton gets elected - or whether that same standard applied to male presidents.
Trump's third event of the day came in another swing state, Toledo, Ohio. But before taking the stage there, Trump took part in a question and answer session on a pro-Trump Reddit forum.
The entire session was very tightly moderated - and the questions to be asked of Trump were entirely complimentary to the candidate. Trump's answers ranged from uncharacteristically tame to talking point pablum - and it wasn't exactly the famed "Ask Me Anything" that it was billed as.
One question read, "Hello, Mr. Trump, Are you getting tired of winning?" Trump wrote back, "I am never tired of winning, and as your president I will win for you, the American people. I'm with you!"
Trump was asked, "What is your plan for reducing or removing the influence of money on politics?" His answer was simple: "Keeping Crooked Hillary Clinton out of the White House!"
The Toledo rally was another raucous affair where Trump spoke for more than an hour. He subtly took shots at Ohio governor John Kasich by criticizing the state's economic record. Kasich and Trump have sparred for months - and Trump recently said that he would pour money into a super PAC to counter Kasich and Texas senator Ted Cruz.
Trump was feeling confident, like a basketball player who's hit seven three pointers in a row. He had grabbed several headlines Tuesday. He even said that it would be worth voting for Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
""And the last thing we need is another politician, do we agree?" Trump said. "So, it's been an amazing experience. So now we've started off with essentially one person. I mean, these other two people, forget it, although I think a vote for Stein would be good. You know, that's the Green Party because I figure anybody voting for Stein is gonna be for Hillary, so I think vote for Stein is fine."
Trump shook hands on the ropeline after he finished speaking, as he always does. His son, Eric Trump, was nearby. After the senior Trump finished, he went back on stage and gave multiple waves to the crowd. He flashed a thumbs up sign to as many of his supporters as he could. There were points - there were more hats signed, and then he left with an unmistakable message: This is Trump's world, and we're all just living in it.