Hillary Clinton warns Floridians Donald Trump can still win
While Donald Trump ostensibly took a break from the campaign trail for the official opening of the Trump International Hotel a few blocks from the White House, Hillary Clinton used her campaign events in Florida to attack the GOP nominee for having “stiffed American workers,” saying he built his empire with Chinese-manufactured steel, overseas products and labor from immigrants in the country illegally.
“Yesterday here in Florida he took time out to invite the press to listen to his employees talk about what a great boss he is while he was watching and listening to them,” Clinton said at a Tampa rally Wednesday. “And today in opening that hotel, I think it’s important to note that he once again relied on undocumented workers, the same people he has been insulting and demonizing throughout this campaign.” Trump hired several undocumented immigrants for construction work to help renovate the Old Post Office Pavilion which now houses the Trump International Hotel, the Washington Post reported in July 2015, though a Trump spokeswoman said its contractors followed the applicable laws.
Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric caused some well-publicized problems for his Washington Hotel, among them was the loss of two restaurants that had agreed to rent space in the hotel from Trump. In Tampa, Clinton was introduced by celebrity chef Jose Andres, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was one of the famed restaurateurs who pulled out of the Washington hotel deal in protest of Trump. The two are currently locked in litigation over the deal.
Rooms at the overhauled $212 million hotel that bears Trump’s name in Washington have been heavily discounted, and smartphone data suggest fewer people are visiting his properties compared to rival venues nearby. A new Facebook live show produced by his campaign has heightened speculation that he may try and offset any losses with advertising revenue from a new a media network - a plan he denies.
Trump supporters defended his strategy, blasting critics for not making as big a deal of Clinton’s decision to attend an Adele concert on Tuesday night in Miami. Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri told reporters the concert was Clinton’s “gift to herself.” Trump took a break from campaigning to see the singer perform during the GOP primaries.
“I can’t take one hour off to cut a ribbon at one of the great hotels of the world? I mean, I think I’m entitled to it,” he said, in an interview with ABC News. “Nobody complains when she goes to an Adele concert all night long, while I’m making two speeches at rallies with, you know, massive crowds.”
Clinton, too, has turned some of her focus to what happens after Nov. 8, though her efforts assume she wins. Deep in transition planning, she’s also begun expanding the scope of her campaign to help down-ballot Democrats. In Tampa, she pitched Rep. Patrick Murphy’s challenge to Senate Marco Rubio’s senate seat, calling him an “independent voice” and “problem solver” who has stood for immigration reform and stood up for Planned Parenthood. Democrats see an opportunity to win control of the Senate and reduce its deficit in the House - and retool her campaign message to emphasize unifying the country after a divisive race.
“What Trump has done is to make it possible for people who had racist, sexist and all kinds of prejudices and bigotry to put them right out there,” Clinton said on “The Breakfast Club,” a syndicated radio show based in New York City. “I’m not going to be able to wave a magic wand and change everybody’s thoughts.”
Polls suggest that the electoral map is looking increasingly friendly to Clinton, but now she and her campaign fear that voters will be less motivated to turn out because they’ll assume their votes are unnecessary. Clinton has been warning audiences that the race isn’t over yet.
“We can’t make any of this happen if we don’t have you voting,” Clinton said in Tampa Wednesday. “Donald Trump says he can still win and he’s right.”
It’s a message that Clinton will be hitting regularly in the coming days, Palmieri told reporters. “We are going to stay very vigilant,” Palmieri said.
Wednesday was the candidate’s 69th birthday, a milestone she started celebrating a day early on Univision’s entertainment news show “El Gordo y La Flaca,” where she was feted with a bottle of tequila and a large cake featuring her face. In her appearance on “The Breakfast Club,” popular with African-American voters, singer Stevie Wonder serenaded the woman he called “Madam President Clinton.” Wednesday evening, Clinton will celebrate her birthday with her family in New York.
Trump, meanwhile, dispatched his running mate, Mike Pence, to play political defense in Utah - a state that hasn’t backed a Democrat for president in 52 years.
Besides Utah, Pence also was stopping in the swing states of Nevada and Colorado before heading Thursday to solidly Republican Nebraska, a state that awards some of its electoral votes by congressional district. His rally in Omaha seemed aimed at shoring up support in the one district that Clinton could potentially win.
CBS News’ Hannah Fraser-Chanpong contributed to this story.