Donald Trump plays victim card, says survival of US at stake

Facing a series of charges of sexual assault, a defiant and combative Donald Trump on Thursday tried to play the victim card by alleging that he is subject to a conspiracy hatched by the rival Clinton campaign saying that the very survival of the US is at stake.

"Let's be clear on one thing, the corporate media in our country is no longer involved in journalism. They're a political special interest no different than any lobbyist or other financial entity with a total political agenda, and the agenda is not for you, it's for themselves," Republican presidential nominee Trump said at an election rally in West Palm Beach, Florida.

 

"Their agenda is to elect crooked Hillary Clinton at any cost, at any price, no matter how many lives they destroy. For them it's a war, and for them nothing at all is out of bounds. This is a struggle for the survival of our nation, believe me. And this will be our last chance to save it on November 8th, remember that," Trump told thousands of his supporters in this key battleground state.

Trump said this election will determine whether the US is a free nation or whether it has only an illusion of democracy, but are in fact controlled by a small handful of global special interests rigging the system.

"This is reality, you know it, they know it, I know it, and pretty much the whole world knows it. The establishment and their media enablers will control over this nation through means that are very well known. Anyone who challenges their control is deemed a sexist, a racist, a xenophobe, and morally deformed," he said.

Trump's angry response came a day after two women accused him of inappropriate touch, the New York Times reported.

He has sent a legal notice to the daily, which has refused to take down its story and asserted that it stands by it.

"These vicious claims about me of inappropriate conduct with women are totally and absolutely false. The Clintons know it, and they know it very well. These claims are all fabricated. They're pure fiction and they're outright lies. These events never, ever happened and the people said them meekly fully understand. You take a look at these people, you study these people, and you'll understand also," Trump said.

"The claims are preposterous, ludicrous, and defy truth, common sense and logic. We already have substantial evidence to dispute these lies, and it will be made public in an appropriate way and at an appropriate time very soon," he said amid applause from the audience.

He alleged that these lies come from outlets whose past stories and past claims have already been discredited.

The media outlets did not even attempt to confirm the most basic facts because even a simple investigation would have shown that these were nothing more than false smears, he said.

Referring to the Wikileaks release, Trump said e-mails show the Clinton machine is so closely and irrevocably tied to the media organisations that she was given questions and answers in advance of her debate with party rival Bernie Sanders.

"Hillary Clinton is also given approval and veto power over quotes written about her in the New York Times. They definitely do not do that to me, that I can tell you. The e-mails show the reporters collaborate and conspire directly with the Clinton campaign on helping her win the election all over," he said.

"With their control over our government at stake, with trillions of dollars on the line, the Clinton machine is determined to achieve the destruction of our campaign, not gonna to happen," Trump asserted.

Hitting out hard at NYT, Trump said the daily is fighting desperately for its relevance and its financial survival.

"It probably won't even be around in a few years, based on its financial outlook. Which wouldn't be a bad thing, if you want to know the truth," he said.

"As it winds down its years and is becoming more and more problematic, it's gotten more and more vicious, more and more vile. And even the other mainstream media is talking about the single greatest pile-on in history, and all between now and November 8th.

"And you have to see the stories they've written, it's one after another, after another, and facts mean nothing, third-rate journalism. The great editors of the past from the New York Times and others, ladies and gentlemen, are spinning in their graves," he said.