Clinton slams Trump on rhetoric, tax returns in Sanford

Days before the general election, Hillary Clinton went into full attack-mode against Donald Trump at a Sanford rally Tuesday, calling him “the poster boy for everything wrong with our economy.”

“He is the only major party nominee for president in 40 years who hasn’t released his tax returns,” the Democratic presidential nominee says. “He went nearly two decades without paying a dime toward our military, our veterans, our education, our healthcare, our highways or anything. I believe most of us here have paid a lot more federal income taxes than Donald Trump has paid.”

Clinton slammed Trump for a New York Times report this week that says the Republican presidential nominee used a “legally dubious” tax strategy to avoid reporting hundreds of millions of dollars in taxable income.

“He took everything our great country has to offer,” Clinton tells the crowd of about 1,000 inside and outside the Sanford Civic Center. “He scooped it up with both hands and then paid nothing to support us.”

Clinton made several stops in Florida on Tuesday as Election Day comes closer and the polls show both candidates in a virtual tie in the Sunshine State. Clinton and Trump have both planned visits to Central Florida this week, and the Clinton campaign announced recently that President Obama will be visiting the Orlando area again on Sunday, Nov. 6.

In her speech, Clinton also focused on terrorism, pointing out that the Pulse nightclub massacre happened not far from the area.

“I was in New York City on 9/11 as one of the two senators,” she says. “I will defeat ISIS. I will protect America.”

But Clinton says she also wants to protect Americans from the “epidemic of gun violence that is stalking our country,” with 33,000 people a year dying in gun-related incidents.

“I cannot come to Sanford without talking about Trayvon Martin,” she says. “All he did do was go to a corner store, bought a pack of skittles and walked back home in the rain, and his life was cut short.”

Clinton was introduced to the rally by many speakers, including civil rights legend U.S. Rep. John Lewis. Several news reports on Tuesday, including one from Politico, say early-voting turnout among African Americans is low compared to 2012 when Obama ran, which could hurt Clinton in the swing state. U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings from South Florida told Politico the Clinton campaign was “not doing enough in the black community.” But as some black Democrats told BuzzFeed, Obama’s turnout among the African American community would be hard to beat.

“I almost died for the right to vote,” Lewis tells the crowd. “So I must tell you, you must go out and vote, and vote as you never, ever have before. It’s our most sacred, our most powerful non-violent tool we have in society.”

This article appears in Oct 26 – Nov 1, 2016.