Clinton paints grim picture of life under a Trump presidency
In the final sprint to Election Day, Hillary Clinton is painting a grim picture of what a Donald Trump presidency would mean for Americans.
“Imagine it is January 20, 2017,” Clinton urged supporters gathered at Arizona State University in Tempe Wednesday. “And imagine if it’s Donald Trump standing in front of the Capitol.”
She’s reminding voters of the more controversial things he’s said about specific groups of Americans.
“Imagine he is taking the oath of office,” she said. “And then imagine what it will be like to have him in the Oval Office making the decisions that affect your lives and your futures. Imagine having a president who demeans women, mocks the disabled, insults Latinos, African Americans Muslims, POWs, who pits people against each other instead of pulling us together.”
A Trump presidency, she argues, would be a setback for women and girls, Clinton is telling audiences. She invoked Carly Fiorina, one of Trump’s Republican primary opponents, in her portrayal of him as a dangerous example for American children.
“Just think about what happens if he were to win to women and girls,” Clinton said. “It would mean that our girls would grow up with a president who proudly and loudly ranks women by their looks including the only woman running in the Republican primary.”
“Remember what he said about Carly Fiorina?” she asked. “A distinguished women with a tremendous record of accomplishment. Trump said nobody will vote for her -- look at her face.”
For immigrants, Clinton imagines a difficult future under Trump, who, she posits, would appoint the tough-on-immigration Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to lead the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
“His top adviser on immigration is Sheriff Joe Arpaio,” Clinton said in Arizona, a state with a large Hispanic population. “Just last week, Sheriff Arpaio was officially charged with criminal contempt of court because he refused to stop racially profiling Latinos. Now imagine Donald Trump appointing the sheriff our next secretary of Homeland Security to oversee the massive deportation force.”
Hillary Clinton’s swing through Arizona is an indication of the campaign’s thinking when it comes to the electoral map. The state, deeply red, has only elected one Democrat in the last sixty or so years: her husband, Bill Clinton. But as the race tightens nationally, polls show Clinton is now within striking distance of the Republican nominee in Arizona. According to this weekend’s CBS News Battleground Tracker poll, Trump leads by just two points, 44 percent to Clinton’s 42 percent.
Ending on a more hopeful note, Clinton told Tempe rally-goers, numbering about 15,000: “As the political pundits like to say, this state is in play for the first time in years...We have a real chance to turn this state blue again.”
