Donald Trump lashed out against a broad array of people at a town hall-style event staged before a friendly audience here Thursday night.
He attacked Hillary Clinton, alleging with no evidence that when the Democratic nominee says she is preparing for debates, she is actually “resting.” He went after Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who does not support him. He knocked journalists John Harwood and John King, as well as the media in general and even the Commission on Presidential Debates.
Trump also denied that he was using the event to prepare for Sunday night’s debate in St. Louis, which will operate under a similar format.
The gathering was hardly a preview of the spontaneous questions Trump and Clinton are expected to face from voters and moderators Sunday night. It was closed to the public; the campaign invited people to attend and submit written questions in advance. Some added words of encouragement for Trump to their questions.
Trump was not pressed on his taxes, or his comments about women’s physical appearances, which have stoked widespread controversy in recent weeks.
Conservative radio host Howie Carr moderated the event. Asked by Carr whether he wanted to be told when his two minutes allotted for answering each question were up, Trump quipped: “If I’m doing well, don’t call me.”
Carr said at the outset that Trump would field about 20 questions. He took only about a dozen, on issues from foreign policy to domestic issues to Trump’s outreach to Hispanics and whether he was annoyed that running mate Mike Pence didn’t defend his positions in this week’s vice-presidential debate.
“This isn’t practice. This has nothing to do with Sunday,” Trump said. Without any substantiation, he said that what Clinton does is “not debate prep — she’s resting.”
Later, he said: “She wants to build up her energy for Sunday night.”
At one point, Trump told the crowd about his recent trip to Las Vegas, where he said Hispanics “like to be called” Latinos.
