Donald Trump,
the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, issued a new warning
to President Obama on Friday as he went after old enemies like Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren at his first campaign rally since the end of the Republican and Democratic primary contests in Richmond, Virginia.
Back to his teleprompter-free
self after enduring over a week of criticism from his own party over
his attacks against a Hispanic judge, Trump assailed the president’s
plans to campaign alongside Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee,
on Wednesday in Wisconsin.
“We have a president that doesn’t know
what the hell he’s doing, folks,” Trump said. “I hear he’s going to
take a lot of time, during our time, when he’s supposed to be looking at
trade and the military and all of these things, and he’s going to
campaign for Crooked Hillary.”
“You know what? That’s OK. That’s
OK,” Trump said before then issuing a veiled threat to the president.
“Because if he does that, we’re allowed to say things about him that
normally we wouldn’t bring up. Remember when Bill started campaigning?”
That
was a reference to Trump’s willingness to attack Clinton by alleging
sexual misconduct on the part of her husband, former President Clinton,
in ways that go beyond the usual political back and forth.
Throughout the night, Trump attempted to portray Hillary
Clinton as corrupt. In one instance, he told the crowd: “She and her
husband hate Obama. Everybody knows it. Right now she’s like, ‘Yes, sir.
No, sir. How should I vote?’ She’s petrified because she doesn’t want
to go to jail. The system is rigged. Bernie found it out.”
The
controversy over Trump University and U.S. District Judge Gonzalo
Curiel, who’s presiding over a civil suit concerning the educational
venture, appeared to weigh on Trump even though he didn’t directly
mention either.
During his speech in Washington, D.C., earlier in the day, Trump made a pitch toward racial harmony.
“You
know, I have the theme, ‘Make America great again,'” Trump said. “And I
have added a couple of things. I am adding ‘Make America great–‘ right
now, I am adding it, ‘Make America great again,’ I am adding ‘for
everyone’ because it’s really going to be for everyone, not going to be
for a group of people. It’s going to be for everyone.”
Later, while admonishing the “poor sad people” of the Never
Trump movement, Trump said, “I’m the least, just so you know, I am the
least racist person, the least racist person that you’ve ever seen, the
least. I mean, give me a break. But they are saying, ‘Is Donald Trump a
racist?’ I am the least racist person that you’ve ever looked at.”
Five
minutes before that proclamation, Trump was going after Warren, the
Democratic senator from Massachusetts, calling her “Pocahontas” in
reference to her Native American ancestry and a controversy she faced in
2012.
Trump also described Warren as “the worst” and “goofy.” He
joked that by calling her that, he was doing a “such a disservice to
Pocahontas,” the actual historical figure. Trump’s repeated usage of
that name for Warren has been controversial with critics saying the term
is a racist slur.
Warren, a possible running mate for Clinton,
met with the former secretary of state on Friday. Trump reacted by
saying, “I hope she’s gonna to be chosen by Hillary. Oh would that be
great. I would love it. I would love it.
CBS