US Election Brief: Clinton battles both Trump and FBI as polls narrow
A daily roundup of the top three news items about the US White House race compiled by SCMP’s reporters on the campaign trail
Clinton on defensive, White House neutral in FBI aftermath
Watch: Clinton says ‘no case’ in email FBI review
“There’s no case here,” she said at an event at Kent State University. “I am sure a lot of you may be asking what this new email story is about and why in the world the FBI would decide to jump into an election with no evidence of any wrongdoing with just days to go. That is a good question.”
Trump eyes Democrat states
Donald Trump raised eyebrows when he announced his campaign schedule for the next few days.
The Republican nominee will spend time not in Republican strongholds or even battleground states but in states thought to be leaning Democratic, including Michigan, Wisconsin and New Mexico – three states that went Democratic in recent presidential elections.
Trump’s aides said they believed his visits to these states would give him a platform to attack Clinton’s ethics.
The ‘blue states’ also carry real importance for Trump, as he is finding it hard to get the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the presidency even if he scores victories in key states like Florida, Ohio and Iowa. He might need a state like Pennsylvania, which, like Michigan and Wisconsin, has not gone for a Republican nominee since George H.W. Bush won in 1988.
Polls narrow
Following the latest email controversy, different polls are showing a different picture of Clinton’s prospects of getting into the Oval Office. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday showed Clinton leading Trump by five points, 44 to 39 per cent – down only slightly since the FBI director’s announcement.
But Real Clear Politics, which averages the results of several major polls, showed the former First Lady’s lead had dropped on Monday from 4.6 to 2.5 points over Trump.
