—-
On Twitter: Join the discussion on @Ohio_Politics
On Facebook: Like our Ohio Politics Facebook page and join the discussion and sound off on the issues.
—-
The media is “doing half of Hillary Clinton’s work for her,” said Pence during his speech to about 800 people at the Manor House Banquet & Conference Center in Mason. “I have no doubt the national media is trying to rig this election with their biased coverage.”
Kathy Elliott, 59, of Mason said she agrees that the media are covering Trump differently from Clinton.
“My thing is why are they dwelling on his past from 11 to 30 years ago but they’re not dealing with Hillary’s issues that have put Americans lives in danger in Benghazi and the emails. They’re not talking about any of that,” Elliott said.
“All you hear (about Trump) are all these allegations from these women. A lot of them have already been proven false,” she said.
Multiple women have alleged that Trump kissed or groped them, which he has denied. He apologized for lewd comments he made about women in an Access Hollywood video released earlier this month.
Pence did not address the sexual harassment allegations against Trump but the Clinton campaign brought them up at a news conference in Mason featuring Ohio parents denouncing Trump.
“That not even his own running mate can defend Donald Trump’s awful words and degrading comments about women tells you everything you need to know about why Trump is unfit to be president,” said Butler County Democratic Chair Jocelyn Bucaro. “The president and vice president must be people who our children can look up to, not people who we must shield our children from. Hillary Clinton has been fighting for children and families her entire career and she is someone who we are proud to have as a role model for our children.”
Pence touted a new CNN poll released Monday that shows Trump leading Clinton in Ohio 48 percent to 44 percent among likely voters. That poll showed Clinton leading Trump in North Carolina and Nevada.
A battleground state Quinnipiac Poll also released on Monday shows Trump and Clinton tied in Ohio, but Clinton leading in Colorado, Florida and Pennsylvania among likely voters.
Pence criticized Clinton’s use of a private email server when she was secretary of state. The FBI exonerated her of criminal wrongdoing but said Clinton and her aides had been extremely careless in handling government emails.
With the crowd chanting “lock her up,” Pence said that the media ignores “documented” evidence of Clinton’s corruption. He alleged that a state department official pressured the FBI to downgrade an email classification in a “quid pro quo” exchange.
“Hillary Clinton must never be allowed to serve as president,” Pence said.
Email investigation documents the FBI released Monday indicate that an unnamed FBI official, now retired, alleged that the state department wanted to exchange a downgrading of an email security classification for letting FBI agents into more countries, Politico said. Both the FBI and State department on Monday issued statements denying that such a “quid pro quo” occurred, according to Politico. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said there was a debate over the proper classification of the email but no trade offered and the email classification was not altered, according to Politico.
Pence painted the Nov. 8 election as a “choice between two futures.”
“I choose an America that stands by the Constitution of America,” Pence said. “I choose to stand with Donald Trump and every American who wants to make this nation great again.”
He said Trump would abolish the Affordable Care Act, letting the “free marketplace” do health insurance. Pence said the American military has been “hollowed out” under President Barack Obama and Clinton, who was secretary of state in Obama’s first term.
Pence also pledged to cut taxes, reverse all of Obama’s executive orders and renegotiate trade deals.
“We’re going to make sure that trade means American jobs first,” Pence said.
He also talked about the importance of faith and said the Trump-Pence ticket is “going to stand up for values.”
“We are going to end late term abortion in all of its forms across the country,” said Pence, who also spoke in Columbus on Wednesday.
About the Author
