This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2016/oct/13/trump-sexual-misconduct-allegations-election-clinton-obama

The article has changed 25 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 6 Version 7
Michelle Obama: Trump engaged in 'sexually predatorial behavior' – campaign live Trump: sexual misconduct accusers are 'horrible, horrible liars' – campaign live
(35 minutes later)
6.47pm BST
18:47
Trump: 'I take all these slings and arrows gladly for you'
Trump:
They knew they would stop at nothing to try to stop me. But I never knew that it would be this vile... Nevertheless, I take all these slings and arrows gladly for you. I take them for our movement.
Trump then elaborates on his conspiracy theory that Bill Clinton planned to meet with attorney general Loretta Lynch on her airplane on an Arizona tarmac.
“He was never there to play golf, folks. Don’t be foolish,” Trump says.
(If Clinton wanted a secret meeting with Lynch, would he have done it in public?)
I believe they talked about her remaining in her position under a crooked Hillary Clinton administration. That’s what I believe. That’s what I believe folks. And I think that’s what most people in this room believe.
Trump said he had a nice life and he could have kept living it “instead of going through this absolute horror show of lies.”
Now I’m being punished for leaving the special club and revealing to you the terrible things that are going on with this country. Because I used to be part of the club, I’m the only one that can fix it.
Updated
at 6.49pm BST
6.39pm BST
18:39
Times to Trump: You can't sue us for printing stuff you brag about
Trump has just said he’s preparing a lawsuit against the New York Times for its reporting on women who have accused him of unwanted touching. Trump’s lawyer sent the Times a letter telling them to take the story down.
Here’s a letter from the New York Times’ lawyer replying to Trump’s lawyer.
“We decline to do so,” the letter says. “Nothing in our article has had the slightest effect on the reputation that Mr Trump, through his own words and actions, has already created for himself.”
The letter also says, “It would have been a disservice not just to our readers but to democracy itself to silence their voices.”
David McCraw, NYT lawyer, responds to Trump’s letter. pic.twitter.com/ziPBCIjkvP
(thx @bencjacobs)
Updated
at 6.44pm BST
6.32pm BST
18:32
Trump says he’s the victim of “the single biggest pile-on in history”.
The great editors of the past ... ladies and gentlemen, are spinning in their graves.
“I will not allow the Clinton team to turn our campaign into a discussion of their lies,” Trump says, after like a half hour of talking about it.
These attacks are orchestrated by the Clintons and their media allies. The only thing Hillary Clinton has going for herself is the press... what they say is false and slanderous in virtually every respect.
Trump says he has polls showing him in a dead heat with Clinton. Then quotes Rasmussen (he is two points ahead in that poll).
Updated
at 6.37pm BST
6.28pm BST
18:28
Trump calls alleged victims 'horrible, horrible liars'
Trump’s now talking about the People magazine writer’s account:
Why wasn’t it part of the story that appeared 12 years ago? Why wasn’t it part of the story ... it would’ve been one of the biggest stories of the year ... Think of it, [she’s doing this story] and she said I made inappropriate advances. And by the way, the area is a public, people ...
Of the author:
Take a look, you look at her, look at her words, you tell me what you think. I don’t think so.
These people are horrible people. They’re horrible, horrible liars.
“Why wasn’t in the piece? Biggest story of the year,” Trump says.
Updated
at 6.31pm BST
6.24pm BST
18:24
Trump calls assault claims 'totally and absolutely false'
Trump now says he’s the victim of a concerted, coordinated and vicious attack.
“It’s not coincidence that these attacks come at the exact same moment... as Wikileaks exposes documents” he says.
“These vicious claims about me of inappropriate conduct with women are totally and absolutely false, and the Clintons know it. These claims are all fabricated, they’re pure fiction and they’re outright lies.”
Trump then attacks his alleged victims:
You take a look at these people, you study these people and you’ll understand.
He also calls the claims “preposterous” and “ludicrous.”
He says he has “substantial evidence” that he will reveal in the future to disprove the claims. “Even a simple investigation would have shown that these were nothing more than false smears.”
Trump says he’s preparing a lawsuit against the New York Times.
Updated
at 6.25pm BST
6.21pm BST
18:21
Trump says nation will not survive if he loses
This is a struggle for the survival of our nation, believe me, and this will be our last chance to save it.
Trump says the election will reveal whether the country is a democracy or whether the levers of power “are in fact controlled by a small band of global interests rigging the system. This is reality, you know it, I know it...”
Trump sounds distant in this speech. He’s talking about the invisible global network of elites and what they will do if you take them on.
“They will attack you, they will slander you, they will seek to destroy... everything about you including your reputation. They will lie, lie, lie... the Clintons are criminals, remember that. They’re criminals.
6.16pm BST
18:16
Trump says the global economy will explode unless he’s elected president. Then he makes a newish claim about Clinton, that she operates in secret “in order to enrich these global financial powers.” Trump says he read it in Wikileaks.
Lock her up! chants the crowd.
“Honestly, she should be locked up,” Trump says.
Each day he seems to go farther into Infowars territory.
6.12pm BST6.12pm BST
18:1218:12
What did you think of Michelle Obama’s speech? Watch it here:What did you think of Michelle Obama’s speech? Watch it here:
If you missed FLOTUS speech just now, you can watch replay here.https://t.co/JSJwvLLHgAIf you missed FLOTUS speech just now, you can watch replay here.https://t.co/JSJwvLLHgA
Best speech of FLOTUS’s career, equal to her 2016 convention speech.Best speech of FLOTUS’s career, equal to her 2016 convention speech.
Truly honored Michelle Obama is our First Lady. Now listen to her & get involved. https://t.co/Lr7sJEQ2lGTruly honored Michelle Obama is our First Lady. Now listen to her & get involved. https://t.co/Lr7sJEQ2lG
.@FLOTUS: Trump's comments about women have "shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn't have predicted." https://t.co/ir3KrSplho.@FLOTUS: Trump's comments about women have "shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn't have predicted." https://t.co/ir3KrSplho
.@FLOTUS on Trump: "This is not normal. This is not politics as usual. This is disgraceful. It is intolerable." https://t.co/NiL6b68w2T.@FLOTUS on Trump: "This is not normal. This is not politics as usual. This is disgraceful. It is intolerable." https://t.co/NiL6b68w2T
Michelle Obama: If Trump is elected "We're telling our sons it's ok to humiliate women." https://t.co/8YTDI3Gswr https://t.co/23YSJOmk2fMichelle Obama: If Trump is elected "We're telling our sons it's ok to humiliate women." https://t.co/8YTDI3Gswr https://t.co/23YSJOmk2f
6.08pm BST6.08pm BST
18:0818:08
Here now is Trump. This will be... different.Here now is Trump. This will be... different.
6.01pm BST6.01pm BST
18:0118:01
The first lady is winding toward her finish. A very powerful advancement of the message that Trump treats women despicably, is hurting people and the country by doing so and must not be elected:The first lady is winding toward her finish. A very powerful advancement of the message that Trump treats women despicably, is hurting people and the country by doing so and must not be elected:
BREAKING: First Lady on Trump: This was a powerful individual speaking openly about "sexually predatory behavior." https://t.co/UHJcVKRNiYBREAKING: First Lady on Trump: This was a powerful individual speaking openly about "sexually predatory behavior." https://t.co/UHJcVKRNiY
5.58pm BST
17:58
Meanwhile, in Trumpland:
Reporter kicked out of Trump meeting ahead of speech.REPORTER: "Mr. Trump, can you deny, have you ever touched...?"TRUMP: "Sleazebag." pic.twitter.com/j3TC2HN1oU
5.57pm BST
17:57
Michelle Obama: electing Trump would set bad example 'for entire world'
Obama:
If any of us raised a daughter like Hillary Clinton, we would be so proud... in this election, if we turn away from her, if we just stand by and let her opponent be elected, then what are we telling our children about what values they should hold.
If “we” elect Trump, Obama tells the crowd, “we would be telling our children that “everything they’re seeing and hearing is perfectly OK. We are validating it. ... we’re telling our sons that it’s OK to humiliate women. We’re telling our daughters that this is how they’re treated.”
She says “we won’t just be setting a bad example for our kids, but for the entire world.”
Obama says that Trump “routinely degrades women, brags about sexually assaulting women.”
Obama says it’s time to show that “enough is enough and we do not tolerate this kind of behavior in this country.”
Then she tells New Hampshire women to vote:
In 2012 women’s votes were the difference between Barack winning and losing... back in 2012 Barack won New Hampshire by about 40,000 votes, which sounds like a lot, but ... the difference was just 66 votes per precinct.
5.51pm BST
17:51
The first lady is not stopping. She says that Hillary Clinton is the most qualified presidential nominee ever “and yes, she happens to be a woman.”
“Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life.”
5.47pm BST
17:47
Michelle Obama: Trump's comments 'disgraceful, intolerable'
Michelle Obama is delivering an extraordinary critique of Trump’s attack on women.
Maybe we just don’t want to believe that there are still people out there who think so little of us as women.
New Hampshire, be clear. This is not normal. This is not politics as usual. This is disgraceful. It is intolerable....
This is not about politics. This is about right and wrong.
We simply can’t expose our children to this, not for another minute, and not for four years....
Enough is enough. This has got to stop right now.
What messages are our little girls hearing?
5.43pm BST
17:43
Michelle Obama: Trump engaged in 'sexually predatorial behavior'
Michelle Obama says “we have heard a candidate talking about sexually assaulting women.”
She says she thinks about Trump’s comments all the time, and that they make her shake.
This was not just a lewd conversation ... this was a powerful individual speaking freely about sexually predatorial behavior...
It’s one of countless examples of how he has treated women his whole life...
I feel it so personally, and I’m sure that many of you do too, particularly women...
The belief that you can do anything you want to a woman? It’s cruel, it’s frightening, and the truth is it hurts. It hurts.
5.37pm BST
17:37
Here now is Michelle Obama in Manchester, New Hampshire, speaking for Clinton:
5.32pm BST
17:32
The People editor has released a statement defending journalist Natasha Stoynoff, the author of Physically Attacked by Donald Trump – a PEOPLE Writer’s Own Harrowing Story:
Statement from Jess Cagle, Editor in Chief of PEOPLE (via @jdisis) pic.twitter.com/DQfPOCfaxv
5.19pm BST
17:19
Comments: we’ve now turned them on. Sorry for their having been off. And thanks very much to reader Alex C for pointing it out.
5.18pm BST
17:18
Trump employees don't donate much to campaign
Reuters has analysed the donation records of tens of thousands of Trump employees and determined “only a dozen” donated more than $200:
Kerry Woolard, the 37-year-old manager of Trump Winery in Charlottesville, Virginia, went online in June and made her first political contribution: A $250 donation to the campaign of her boss, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Woolard’s donation was unusual.
Only a dozen of an estimated 22,450 people employed at Trump’s companies have donated more than $200 to the celebrity businessman’s bid for the U.S. presidency, a Reuters review of federal campaign finance records through August shows. Those who gave less to either Trump’s campaign or his joint fundraising committees would not have shown up in the review.
The contributors, including an office cleaner, a golf course groundskeeper, a bartender and an attorney, have given $5,298 to Trump’s campaign, a fraction of the $112 million Trump’s political operation has received from donors and joint fundraisers.
An employee at Trump enterprises gave $275 to the campaign of her employer’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. A 13th Trump employee, a lawyer at the Trump Organization, contributed to a Trump Super PAC, giving $1,000.
“Honestly, I wish I could do more,” said Woolard, who addressed the Republican national convention in July and has attended private dinners with Trump, his wife Melania, and their son, Barron. “He is an amazing boss, has been a great leader and I believe would do a great job for our country.”
4.57pm BST
16:57
Besweatered undecided Ken Bone is cashing in on his debate fame, per his Twitter feed:
Everyone wants to know if I've decided... and I have. uberSELECT helps you ride in style like me https://t.co/HyOS8z9SRd