Evan Vucci / AP

Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who has represented Maine for 20 years, said Monday she will not be voting for Donald Trump.

Collins explained her decision in a column in the Washington Post.

"This is not a decision I make lightly, for I am a lifelong Republican," she said. "But Donald Trump does not reflect historical Republican values nor the inclusive approach to governing that is critical to healing the divisions in our country."

Collins said Trump was unsuitable for the presidency because of his inability to treat others with respect, a value that should go beyond party lines. Particularly alarming is his record of attacking people who lack his power or cannot respond because of professional responsibilities, she said, pointing to Trump's mocking of a reporter with a disability, his comments on a federal judge whose parents immigrated from Mexico, and his criticism of the parents of a fallen Muslim-American soldier.

"I had hoped that we would see a 'new' Donald Trump as a general-election candidate — one who would focus on jobs and the economy, tone down his rhetoric, develop more thoughtful policies and, yes, apologize for ill-tempered rants," Collins wrote. "But the unpleasant reality that I have had to accept is that there will be no 'new' Donald Trump, just the same candidate who will slash and burn and trample anything and anyone he perceives as being in his way or an easy scapegoat."

Collins told CNN Tuesday that she didn't know who she was going to vote for, and that she was not going to support Hillary Clinton.

"I have a lot of concerns about Hillary Clinton and I am not going to support her," Collins said. "I may well end up writing in a name for president."

Collins added that she remains a Republican and will support other Republican candidates in their races around the country. In particular, she said she values the Republican tenet of individuals' worth and dignity.

"It is because of Mr. Trump's inability and unwillingness to honor that legacy that I am unable to support his candidacy," she said.

Collins' statement came after another anti-Trump Republican announced an independent presidential bid. Some Republican donors have stepped back their support of Trump in the last week, and on Monday, 50 former national security and foreign policy Republican leaders warned that Trump would be a "dangerous" and "reckless" president.

Andrea Tantaros pictured second from the right.

Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images

Fox News personality Andrea Tantaros alleged on Monday that she was taken off air after reporting she was sexually harassed by then–chairman and CEO of Fox News Roger Ailes.

Two sources — one with direct knowledge of the legal proceedings involved — provided new details to BuzzFeed News on Monday of the complicated, monthslong legal proceedings that led up to Tantaros’s removal.

The dispute was initially about her new book, according to the sources, but developed into an internal investigation involving more than a dozen people after Tantaros alleged that Fox News employees had behaved inappropriately toward her and that threats had been made against her. Tantaros’s lawyer disputed that there had been such an investigation.

During the legal proceedings, according to the sources, Tantaros alleged that she had been mistreated by several Fox News employees, both men and women. Five specific allegations, including “inappropriate male behavior,” were detailed by Tantaros’s legal team in a March 2016 letter made available to BuzzFeed News. Ailes was not among those accused in the letter.

Tantaros’s last appearance on Fox News was on April 25, the day before her book, Tied Up in Knots, was published.

According to the source with knowledge of the legal proceedings, Tantaros’s dispute with Fox News began in late February, when Tantaros revealed the cover for her book on the Fox News show Outnumbered. Fox News claims Tantaros did not receive their contractually required approval for the book or the cover, and when Tantaros unveiled it on Feb. 29, Fox News’ legal team requested a meeting with her to discuss a breach of contract.

Before that meeting occurred, Tantaros’s lawyer at the time, Joseph C. Cane, sent Fox News’ legal team a letter detailing a series of allegations.

The four-page letter was made available to be reviewed by BuzzFeed News and read in its entirety on the condition that it not be published. In the March 16 letter, Tantaros, through her lawyer, accused by name four Fox News male personalities — two on-air contributors, a correspondent, and a host — of inappropriate behavior.

Tantaros also alleged that she was receiving threatening tweets she believed were from a Fox News colleague. In the letter, Tantaros’s lawyer claims Fox News was not taking those threats seriously and was putting her life in danger by allowing unauthorized access to the studio.

The letter contends that Tantaros fulfilled her contractual obligations with the book and told Fox News she did not need to provide it with a copy of the book ahead of time.

The letter also describes a dispute with a specific Fox News personality over a tweet sent by Tantaros and alleges that Tantaros did not feel like she was being supported by Fox News’ media relations team.

According to the source with direct knowledge, Fox News investigated the allegations, interviewing more than a dozen employees. When Tantaros sat down with Fox News’ legal and HR team on April 7, she was asked directly if she should could recall any specific statements made to her of a sexual nature. According to the source with direct knowledge, she answered that she could not recall.

Initially, Fox News told BuzzFeed News that the company thoroughly investigated the claims Tantaros made. Subsequently, through an spokesperson, Fox News Senior EVP of Programming Bill Shine said "Andrea never made any complaints to me about Roger Ailes sexually harassing her."

In a statement to BuzzFeed News, Tantaros’s lawyer Judd Burstein said, “There was no investigation by Fox of more than a dozen employees.”

Burstein said there are “documents authored by Fox that demonstrate that broader allegations were made at earlier points in time,” and that “Fox has contradicted itself in its own communications — documents that were not provided” to BuzzFeed News. Burstein said the source “has completely misrepresented what took place at just one meeting (including what Ms. Tantaros actually said at the meeting) which primarily dealt with different events." He added that the source “has omitted the numerous complaints about Ailes made prior to Mr. Cane’s letter, which, by the time his letter, had been shown to be futile.”

“Why has [Fox News executive vice president] Bill Shine chosen to remain silent, instead relying upon Fox to make a selective disclosure by an unnamed sources?” Burstein said. “In the coming days, the truth will come out in much more detail.”

Tantaros, through Burstein, has alleged she was sexually harassed by Ailes in August 2014 and February 2015 (Ailes told her she must “really look good in a bikini” and made other comments, New York magazine reported on Monday), before she formally reported the harassment to Shine in April 2015. New York magazine reported that Tantaros made more complaints about inappropriate behavior over the course of the next year, and then, according to Burstein, the book “became this big issue.”

This summer, Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit alleging sexual harassment from Ailes has opened the floodgates of detailed allegations from former employees against Ailes. Last month, Ailes resigned.

Burstein alleged Tantaros’s removal from Fox News’ air was retaliation for reporting those claims against Ailes.

Sara D. Davis / Getty Images

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Donald Trump's running mate Mike Pence questioned on Monday if an Iranian scientist recently executed was killed because he was discussed on Hillary Clinton's private email server.

Clinton advisers discussed the scientist, email records show, in July 2010. But, as the Washington Post noted, Clinton also publicly commented on the case of Shahram Amiri at the time, and New York Times reported then that he was a CIA informant. Clinton's emails were publicly released in 2015 through FOIA, and while FBI officials have said it's possible that Clinton's server was hacked, they did not find evidence that it was.

"We've got to get to the bottom" of it, Pence said on the Sean Hannity Show on Monday. "We've got to find out whether Mr. Amiri, who was executed this last weekend ... it became public because of the revelations in Hillary Clinton's email. I know that's been alleged, there's been news reports to that effect, Sen. Cotton has raised some of those issues."

Trump on Monday tweeted, "Many people are saying that the Iranians killed the scientist who helped the U.S. because of Hillary Clinton's hacked emails." Pence's comments were made on the radio show before Trump.

"I think it's absolutely essential that we get to the bottom of this," continued Pence. "It is heartbreaking to think that someone who would have cooperated, as reports indicated, with the United States and with our interests to the security of our nation may have lost their life because of the recklessness and carelessness of Hillary Clinton using a private server. We don't know if that's the case, it's being reported, but we absolutely have to get to the bottom of it. The American people have a right to know."

Darren Hauck / Getty Images

In an economic address on Monday, Donald Trump proposed a moratorium on new federal regulations.

Since running for president, Trump has leaned heavily on so-called supply-side economics. But not that long ago, he was boasting that he supported the Obama administration stimulus package, as well as bailouts for the auto industry and banks. In one instance, he told CNN host Larry King he supported President Obama's efforts to limit pay for top executives at companies that were accepting large portions of bailout funds.

"Is Obama right or wrong to go after these executives with salary caps?" King asked Trump in February 2009.

"Well, I think he's absolutely right," Trump replied. "Billions of dollars is being given to banks and others. You know, once you start using taxpayer money, it's a whole new game. So I absolutely think he's right."

As BuzzFeed News reported in November of last year, Trump also blogged about his support for the measure. In the same series of blog posts, he praised President Obama and rated his performance strongly.

"He asked me if Obama was right or wrong to go after these executives with salary caps — and I said he’s absolutely right," wrote Trump. "Billions of dollars are being given to banks, and once you start using taxpayer money, it’s a whole new ball game. It’s not a game I’m enjoying watching. The banks are trying to shore up their balance sheets. They’re supposed to be loaning out that money and they’re using it for other purposes, so it is a real mess."

Bill Pugliano / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The Republican National Committee is set to name Ashley D. Bell its new senior strategist and national director of black political engagement, two Republican sources told BuzzFeed News.

A third source, who is close to Bell, confirmed the hire, but was hesitant to discuss it further, saying the details were still being worked out.

Bell did not return messages seeking comment. An attorney and delegate to the RNC, he is the founder and Republican co-chair of 20/20 Leaders of America, a bipartisan group of black elected officials, attorneys, and activists "united to elevate issues disproportionately affecting communities of color above partisan politics," according to the group's website. "We are seeking to fundamentally change the way in which the American political system addresses racial justice issues, now and in the future."

A source close to the Trump campaign operatives who will be working with him are "very pleased" the RNC is bringing on Bell, a highly-respected voice and strategist inside the campaign. The campaign has in recent weeks has sought to ramp up its engagement with black voters, especially given his abysmal polling numbers. In addition to coordination with the Trump campaign, Bell will be responsible for making sure there's a black engagement strategy in the states, including on down-ballot races with the Republican Governors Association and the National Republican Senatorial Campaign.

One of the biggest questions surrounding much of the black outreach on Trump campaign's black engagement was how, exactly, much of it was going to be paid for. It's unclear if those concerns have been assuaged, but one of the Republican sources said that more strategists focused on black engagement could be on the way.

A source said Elroy Sailor and Shannon F. Reeves are likely to join the Republican 2016 effort, as well. Sailor, a former adviser to Sen. Rand Paul, will play an advisory role to Chairman Reince Priebus, while a source said Reeves will come on as a consultant who will help the GOP build a black voter data file. Sailor declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Telly Lovelace, the RNC's director of black initiatives, will shift his focus more to communications and working with black field engagement staff.

In Charlotte over the weekend, black outreach director Omarosa Manigault and national spokesperson Katrina Pierson appeared at the Antioch Road to Glory International Ministries. The entire church endorsed Trump. Black delegates at the RNC were pleased that Manigault assumed the role, citing her personal relationship with the candidate as an indispensable qualification.

There are some informal efforts, as well. On Tuesday, black Republicans will jump on a national conference call titled "The Family August Conference Call," billed as a "preview of the RNC's 90-day strategies and new hires," according to several sources with direct knowledge of the call. "Join 'The Family,' aka The Elders, The Vanguard and New Leaders 2016 August Black Conservative Conference Call," an email about the call says. (The Family is a group of black Republicans made up of three tiers: older, more seasoned operatives; middle-aged leaders; and emerging leaders.)

Still, Trump has not appeared in front of the Urban League, NAACP, and the National Association of Black Journalists — the kinds of more traditional outreach a candidate might do. The decision not to appear at the conferences was made by Alan Cobb, according to a pair of sources familiar with the deliberations, angering black Republican operatives who saw Trump's absence as a missed opportunity.

The hope is that Bell, a former president of the College Democrats of America (which earned him a speaking slot at the 2004 Democratic National Convention), can help with some of that. A former county commissioner, in 2014, Bell launched an unsuccessful bid for Georgia superintendent, running as a Republican on promoting increased transparency, parent involvement, and higher-paid teachers. Bell is a frequent contributor to Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC.

On a recent appearance on FoxNews.com, Bell said he's told establishment figures to embrace Trump because he's a creation of not sticking to conservative values.

"This party created Donald Trump because the establishment didn't do what it was supposed to do," he said. "That's why I'm totally OK with supporting Donald Trump and why I'm okay with telling most people you need to get behind this nominee — he is your creation."

But Bell, an outspoken voice on the need for changes to the criminal justice system, also said then that Trump needs to change his "law and order" message in order to be effective.

"I think that Donald Trump has to be careful here. Because when he says 'law and order,' he needs to embrace the fact that there's enough laws on the books and if we enforce them then we can bring law and order back to society," he said. "As long as we don't see another uprising of mass incarceration in this country, I think he can actually pivot and have inroads in the black community. That's is the bridge for Donald Trump and Gov. Pence to get inroads in the black and Latino community."

An RNC spokesperson did not reply to requests seeking comment.

Eric Gay / AP

Two operatives have joined the Clinton campaign's Florida Latino efforts with deep experience in organizing people and in Hispanic media — in fact, one is coming directly from Univision.

Francisco Pelayo has left Univision to become the campaign's Florida Hispanic press director — a decision he partly attributed to the candidacy of Donald Trump, who blacklisted his former employer and kicked out its popular anchor Jorge Ramos from a press conference. Pelayo was not a writer for the television giant, but did work on booking and production.

Jose Plaza, meanwhile, joins the campaign from the liberal nonprofit group, Enroll America, which works to sign people up for Obamacare. As national director for Latino engagement, Plaza led a coalition of 15 Latino-serving organizations and oversaw staff in 11 states to get Hispanics signed up. When he heard the words on the phone from the Clinton campaign — "Florida decides presidential elections and Latinos will once again elect the next president" — Plaza decided to move from Washington D.C. to serve as the Hispanic vote director in the state.

Making Latinos aware of the health care law is a lot like getting them involved in an election, Plaza says.

"The biggest alignment is we did roll out a massive campaign to Latinos that they weren’t engaged in just like millions of Latinos are not politically engaged," he said. Working in conjunction with the White House and Health and Human Services, Plaza hosted large-scale Latino enrollment summits and worked with local leaders to engage Hispanics in their schools and churches, and to connect with small businesses, LGBT Latinos, and youth. The efforts led to 4.4 million Latinos signing up.

Polls often show that immigration is a passion-point for Hispanics, described as a foot in the door issue with them — even if immigration doesn't affect them personally, if you're talking harshly about kicking out people that look like them or may be their neighbors, you're not getting in the door.

But it often does not register as the top issue of concern for them, either. In July, the Pew Research Center found that 86% of Hispanics said the economy was very important to them; 82% said health care; 80% terrorism; and 79% immigration. Education, which often registers as a top 2 or 3 issue for Latinos, was next on the list.

Which is why Plaza said he's looking beyond immigration, to unemployment and health care, to engage Latinos, but also climate change and student loans to speak to young Hispanics that may have been enthusiastic about Bernie Sanders in the primary.

And as Donald Trump's Hispanic engagement efforts, stop, start and sputter, the Clinton campaign is working with a playbook Democrats and Republicans with experience doing this work say is crucial to meeting Latinos where they are.

"With the ACA we learned people were not going to open the door and have a conversation about their health, you have to go to their churches and schools," he said.

Pelayo, who as Univision's senior elections coordinator worked on logistics but also provided editorial support when needed, got a front row seat to election events. He worked with the Clinton campaign in his former capacity, but not with the Trump campaign, which after kicking out Ramos, ignored dozens of interview requests and requests for comments on stories the network was working on.

Pelayo declined to get into Trump's treatment of the network during his time at Univision. That treatment from the campaign stands in contrast to a Clinton campaign that has been much more willing to do Spanish-language television interviews, even as it stonewalls mainstream news outlets. Clinton sat down with Univision's Maria Elena Salinas nearly a year ago, and Tim Kaine now seemingly appears weekly on Univision and rival Telemundo. During the primary, Clinton did interviews with Latino radio hosts in California and in Florida.

"My goal is to be available whenever Spanish-language media needs anything from the campaign in Florida, if they’re working on a story, or want to come to events," Pelayo said. "It's about having a relationship with them, making sure they know what we’re doing, and to help them to get credentials."

He said his time at Clinton campaign events gave him an "understanding of what the needs of the campaign are with the media" and pointed to Monday news that the Florida Republican Party spokesman Wadi Gaitan was leaving his role because he didn't want to elect Trump.

"What happened to Wadi, you feel something is happening, a disconnect between the Trump campaign and Latinos," he said.

The predominantly English-language media doesn't often know what is going on in the world of Spanish-language news, but that doesn't mean it doesn't help shape elections.

Pelayo will also be doing the routine, behind-the-scenes work that the campaign believes leads to the most effective communication with Hispanic communities: getting Puerto Rican surrogates, who might talk about the island's financial crisis, on TV in Central Florida; or Cuban and Venezuelan surrogates on Spanish-language networks in South Florida.

And while Hispanics are a disproportionately younger voting bloc, they are also bilingual, a fact that Pelayo says the media doesn't always understand.

"People can get the news from both, they can be tuning into the local ABC affiliate and switch to local Telemundo and get a balance of whatever they’re interested in," he said.

This new role won't see Pelayo interacting with his former national Univision network colleagues, he said — his focus will be on Florida's local markets — but it may give fuel to those who disparage the network as an advocacy arm for Democrats or Latinos.

But just as the network doesn't apologize for its pro-Hispanic bent, Pelayo — who said he is not a journalist, but has a political science background — said he couldn't just stand on the sidelines of Clinton events any longer.

"One of the reasons I switched my hat is because this is such an important election for our community, it's an important choice about the future of the country," he said.

“If she gets to pick her judges, there’s nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is.”

Donald Trump said Tuesday that "Second Amendment people" could potentially stop Hillary Clinton from naming justices to the Supreme Court.

Eric Thayer / Reuters

At least one person in the crowd behind Trump appeared shocked by the remarks.

vine.co

"But I'll tell you what," he continued, "that will be a horrible day. If Hillary gets to put her judges — right now, we're tied, you see what's going on."

Trump told supporters it was crucial Clinton be barred from being elected so as to ensure a majority of conservative justices on the Supreme Court.

"Justice Scalia was going to be around for 10 more years at least, and this is what happens. That was a horrible thing," he said, referring to Justice Antonin Scalia, whose death in February opened up a seat on the nation's top court. Senate Republicans have refused to hold a hearing for Chief Judge Merrick Garland, President Obama's nominee for the position.

Trump then touted his and his sons' membership of the National Rifle Association (NRA), which he said was "great."

A spokesperson for the Secret Service, which protects presidential nominees, told BuzzFeed News they were "aware of the comments," but declined to elaborate.

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange floated the possibility on Tuesday that a murdered Democratic National Committee staffer was an informant for the organization.

"Whistleblowers often take very significant efforts to bring us material and often at very significant risks," Assange said in an interview to be aired Tuesday on the Dutch television program Nieuwsuur. "There’s a 27-year-old who works for the DNC and who was shot in the back, murdered, just a few weeks ago, for unknown reasons as he was walking down the streets in Washington."

Seth Rich, a DNC employee who did voter outreach, was shot to death last month early in the morning in Washington, D.C. The case is unsolved and police have speculated it was an attempted robbery.

On Reddit, Rich's death has become the source of theories about whether he was involved in the leaks of emails and files from the Democratic National Committee last month. US intelligence officials have linked the leak to a Russian hack, though there has been no official conclusion on the matter.

"I am suggesting that our sources take risks and they become concerned to see things occurring like that," Assange added, when asked what he was alleging. "We don’t comment on who our sources are."

Asked by interviewer Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal why he would speculate about someone being shot, Assange said it showed "our sources face serious risks."

"We have to understand how high the stakes are in the US, and that our sources face serious risks. That’s why they come to us, so we can protect their anonymity," he said.

The WikiLeaks founder then stated he was merely investigating what happened.

"We are investigating what happened with Seth Rich. We think it is a concerning situation," Assange said. "There is not a conclusion yet; we are not willing to state a conclusion, but we are concerned about it. And more importantly, a variety of WikiLeaks sources are concerned when that kind of thing happens."

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Hillary Clinton will pitch her candidacy to Mormon voters in Utah with an op-ed Wednesday in the church-owned Deseret News.

"I’ve been fighting to defend religious freedom for years," Clinton writes in an excerpt of the op-ed provided to BuzzFeed News. "As secretary of state, I made it a cornerstone of our foreign policy to protect the rights of religious minorities around the world — from Coptic Christians in Egypt, to Buddhists in Tibet."

While members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have traditionally been some of the most reliably Republican voters in the country, they have been strongly resistant to Donald Trump's candidacy this year. Several Utah polls have shown Clinton within striking distance of Trump. Meanwhile, two third-party candidates — Libertarian Gary Johnson, and independent conservative Evan McMullin — are headquartering their campaigns in Salt Lake City, hoping to take advantage of Trump's struggle to connect with the electorate there.

Still, Clinton's attempt to court voters in Utah, a state that hasn't gone blue in a presidential election year since 1964, is striking.

Paul Edwards, editor and publisher of the Deseret News, said, "Given the interest that has been focused on Utah voters this year, we reached out to both campaigns and were very pleased that Secretary Clinton would be willing to speak directly to Deseret News readers."

The paper's opinion editor told BuzzFeed News they have made several attempts to contact the Trump campaign and have so far not heard back; he said they hope the Republican nominee will take them up on their offer.

Trump Institute

In newspaper advertisements for the now-defunct Trump Institute, Donald Trump promised potential customers that if they attended the institute's seminars, they would make "piles of cash" and be able to live the lifestyle of their dreams.

A New York Times report in June shed light on the Trump Institute, showing how Trump lent his name to a seminar business he didn't own. The seminars, which featured get-rich-quick schemes in rented large venues across the country, had attendees sometimes pay thousands of dollars for Trump's "secrets."

"The institute was run by a couple who had run afoul of regulators in dozens of states and had been dogged by accusations of deceptive business practices and fraud for decades. Similar complaints soon emerged about the Trump Institute," the Times noted.

"What are you going to get from me? The key to unlock the secrets I know can make you rich," read a powerpoint that could be seen on the background of picture on the Trump Institute's website.

Advertisements for the seminar business that ran in local newspapers bear a striking similarity to those from Trump University, offering lofty promises of a quick way to acquire wealth. One for Trump University suggested you'd become a millionaire in a year.

Take a look at two of the newspaper advertisements below:

Asheville Citizen

The ads, under Trump's name, offered you'd make "piles of cash" and "live the lifestyle of your dreams."

Trump Institute Ad

And that there'd never been a better time to get rich in real estate. (The real estate bubble would burst in short order.)

Trump Institute Ad

Another ad promised you'd "make a lot of money," in the "coming real estate shake-up." At the same time, Trump was telling Trump University students to take bubble talk with a "pinch of salt."

Trump Institute Ad

Another ad said you'd learn Trump's secrets of how he made "billions."

T.j. Kirkpatrick / Getty Images

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Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie defended his support for Donald Trump in a radio interview on Wednesday, saying that the Republican nominee would bring change — though he also said he didn't know the change would necessarily be good.

In the interview with host Brian Thomas on 55KRC Ohio radio, Massie said he was "more excited to vote for Trump than I was to vote for Romney-Ryan."

“I think you’re more likely to get change," he explained. "I don’t know if it’s gonna be a good change, but you gotta break eggs to make an omelette.”

Massie suggested later in the interview that some Republicans in Washington, including Paul Ryan, might prefer that Hillary Clinton win.

"Frankly, I still think Paul Ryan’s having a hard time getting on board," the Kentucky congressman said of the Speaker of the House. "And I don’t think he’s a Gary Johnson voter. I’m just gonna tell you. I think some of these guys would secretly in their hearts rather have Hillary win and they’ll take a crack at it in 2020 than to have
Donald Trump win and upset their apple cart and their agenda that they’ve laid out for this country.”

He never said any of this, you guys.

Donald Trump never said gun advocates should try to stop Hillary Clinton, you guys.

Eric Thayer / Reuters

Despite Trump telling a North Carolina rally on August 9 that "Second Amendment people" may be able to stop Hillary Clinton from appointing judges who would rule against gun rights, he says he actually never said that.

As the Trump campaign pointed out, it was the "dishonest media" that mischaracterized his remarks about harnessing the "political power" of "Second Amendment people."

"There can be no other interpretation," Trump told Fox News. "Even reporters have told me. I mean, give me a break."

Donald Trump never said that Russia should hack Hillary Clinton's emails, you guys.

Carlo Allegri / Reuters

Despite Trump telling reporters in Florida on July 27 that Russia should try to go into his opponent's emails to try to uncover her "missing" correspondence, Trump says he actually never really said that.

"Of course I was being sarcastic," he told Fox News of his earlier request that “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let’s see if that happens. That will be next.”

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Gary Cameron / Reuters

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Last week, Rep. Richard Hanna of New York became the first Republican member of Congress to say he would cast his ballot for Hillary Clinton for president.

Hanna, who is retiring this year from Congress, expanded on his position in a local radio interview on Tuesday on 100.7 WUTQ's Talk of the Town radio program.

Hanna called Trump's comments about the parents of a US soldier killed in Iraq in 2004 "shameful" and one of the worst things he'd ever seen. The congressman said Trump didn't understand basic international affairs and said a vote for a third party candidate instead of Clinton would be throwing his vote away.

"I believe that she can do the job and the Republican Party, who I think damaged itself by pandering so deeply to its extremes, has alienated so many categories of people in this country. You know, young people, women, Hispanics, the LGBT community," he said.

Hanna went further, calling Trump, unhinged.

"He's unhinged," he said. "It's difficult to imagine why anyone could support him. He comes across as a demagogue. He comes across as a guy who, frankly, Putin has made a fool of. The ways, the reasons not to support him are growing by the day."

Here's the transcript:

INTERVIEWER: You’ve said from the very beginning that you weren’t supportive of Donald Trump’s candidacy. But what really, was there say a final straw that pushed you to come out and make the statement you did?

HANNA: You know, there’s that straw that broke the camel’s back. No, not really. Certainly what he said to a Gold Star family, Captain Kahn, was beyond the pale. It was incredibly insensitive and un-empathetic to a family who'd lost a son and, unapologetic as he was, it was shameful. I would say that any military family in the country should dismiss him as a potential person to vote for. It was one of the worst things I'd ever seen. But, beyond that, it's just his insults to women, to handicapped people, to just about everybody without, unapologetically, just mean-spirited and aggressive as he could be regardless of how someone treated him initially. You know, you look at his personal history, thousands of lawsuits against people and bankrupting people. Here's a billionaire who uses bankruptcy laws to break people and does it and defends it. The list of things that he's done, his attitudes, his inability to grasp facts. I mean not knowing that the Russians are in Crimea, talking about NATO the way he does. It's just endless. And he's unqualified, unfit, and he doesn't represent very much at all that I could ever support. I felt that from the beginning. I was the first one in the caucus to say I wouldn't support him, and I've only become more hardened in that position. I know a lot of people agree with me. You look at the New York Times this morning, there are 50 national security advisors from a number of different administrations, Republican administrations, who have said blatantly they won't support him. Patently, they will not support him and they go on and on about why they wouldn't. I understand people are frustrated and angry and many people feel left behind, but that's not a reason to support Donald Trump.

INTERVIEWER: Some of your less stridently conservative detractors have suggested, well, maybe at least you could supported an independent candidate. Would you have done that had you felt strongly about one of the independent candidates?

HANNA: No. Why throw your vote away? I think that what, that's fine, people can do that, but my job, the job that I have, is to make tough decisions and defend them. And, you know, everybody has issues big or small with Hillary Clinton. I don't know her personally, but I've watched her story. I understand the concern over emails and it's no small thing, but at the end of the day she's the lady who has experience, knowledge, and a history that you can look at and have some degree of comfort that she won't blow the world up. I don't feel that way about Donald Trump at all. And, to be frank, Hillary Clinton supported great many issues that I care about. So it's not a compromise position for me entirely. I believe that she can do the job and the Republican Party, who I think damaged itself by pandering so deeply to its extremes, has alienated so many categories of people in this country. You know, young people, women, Hispanics, the LGBT community. If you really want to get important things done, I think the Republican Party needs to bring back that libertarian arm that doesn't want to involve itself in people's personal lives and is willing to accept the fact that tolerance is also a value, that pluralism matters, and that in a society that's successful, in order to have peace, people have to feel as though they have involvement. Compromises produced those things that we may not all agree on but at least allow us to move forward as a society. I think we've lost sight of that. I think both parties have, frankly.

INTERVIEWER: Most of the criticism I've seen lobbed at you has to do has to do with the idea that you betrayed the Republican voters that elected you to office. How do you [respond to the criticism]?

HANNA: I'll tell you what... we've have had hundreds of calls from Republicans supporting us. I think that's part of the problem. The Republican Party has not pushed back on its extremes. They want to have everything their way and nothing else. That's wrong. What I do in my office every time we vote on a bill, we write a detailed explanation. We've written almost 900 of them. I have a little over 80 percent voting record with the party. I think that's good enough. I didn't go there to be a right-wing rubber stamp. I went there to represent my community, which has 700,000 people, and not the 15,000 that show up in primaries. They can be angry, and I get it, and I respect their positions, but I don't have to agree with them. I have to listen and balance everything against what I know the facts are on the ground, and that's what we do. I completely understand that they would be disappointed, but they've got to understand that these constant attempts by both parties to run the table, to have the House, the Senate, and the presidency so they can have 100 percent of what they want doesn't work. It doesn't create peace, it doesn't allow the country to move forward, and what I see in Congress, the most common denominator there is fear. Fear of losing their job. Fear of not raising enough money. Fear of angering their base. Fear of saying what they think. I don't do that, and I'm not gonna do that, and I don't get paid to do that. I try to respect everybody, we try to speak in calm, kind-hearted terms and listen well, but I'm just not there for them on this issue. I think Trump is dangerous and if you watch Susan Collins last night from Maine agrees with me and many other Republicans do. And if they think the Republican Party is afraid of Trump, they're wrong. They're not afraid of Trump. There are a lot of good people who look at him and say 'you know what, he's just unfit.' It's not about who he endorses or who he doesn't or anything else. There's certainly some of that, but it's also a matter of watching this man talk over time. He's unhinged. It's difficult to imagine why anyone could support him. He comes across as a demagogue. He comes across as a guy who, frankly, Putin has made a fool of. The ways, the reasons not to support him are growing by the day.

INTERVIEWER: Do you think you'd be as vocal [if you weren't retiring], or do you think that this is just something you felt you had to say?

HANNA: No, I had to do this. Our lives depend on the success of this country. The lifestyle, our values, everything about this country going forward. It's critical. I've got two young kids. I see this man as dangerous, I don't, I frankly worry about the future in profound ways if he was ever elected. He seems to think that everything in his mind is adequate to make the kinds of decisions he has to make as president of the United States, the most important office in the world. I see him as singularly unqualified. That's where I am. [Discusses local race and his successor in the district.]

INTERVIEWER: Do you feel there was no or little backlash from Republicans and what were some of the conversations after you did make your statements public?

HANNA: We run a smart office. We're well respected and I'm not a bomb-thrower. I don't with the party on a number of things, but I try to do it politely and thoughtfully and we do. As I said, we write about what we do. I have not heard a single negative word about what I've done from a member of the Republican Congress. I know that many people agree with me. As you've seen, Charlie Dent, Adam Kinzinger, and some others, and now Susan Collins, they're there to govern. They want to have stability, they want to make hard decisions and move forward, they want tax reform and immigration reform, fully-funded highway fund, a lot of things that we just haven't gotten done. These ideologues from the right and the left that don't allow compromise in the middle are holding this country back. No, I haven't heard a single complaint. That may be hard for people to believe.

INTERVIEWER: Do you trust Hillary Clinton to run the country and to hold to commitments that she might make?

HANNA: I do. I think that the trust word is a big issue. We know she has issues. Nobody can deny that. But we have a choice here. We've got Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. Someone with experience, knowledge, and a background, somebody who has been secretary of state, senator from New York, who was married to a past president, who certainly knows the ins and outs of this job that she wants to get. So, juxtaposed to Trump, I think that there's no question that she's the better person.

Nathaniel Meyersohn contributed reporting to this story.

CHRIS KEANE / Reuters

DES MOINES — Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that she interpreted her opponent’s comment about gun-rights advocates, seen by many as an indistinct reference to political assassination, as his “casual inciting of violence” and “the latest in a long line of casual comments from Donald Trump that cross the line.”

“Words matter, my friends,” Clinton told a crowd of 1,650 here in Des Moines, offering her first public reaction to Trump’s suggestion to a crowd in North Carolina that Second Amendment backers might still be able to stop the former secretary of state from appointing Supreme Court Justices even if she is elected.

“Hillary wants to essentially abolish the Second Amendment,” he told supporters in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Tuesday. “If she gets to pick her judges, there’s nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is. I don’t know."

Trump has since defended his remark, which prompted a wave of laughs from the crowd, as a reference to the political power of the gun-rights movement.

Clinton did not dwell long on Trump's remark in her speech here on Wednesday, characterizing the incident as just as offensive as those he’s aimed at others, including Khizr and Ghazala Khan, who spoke at the DNC and are the Muslim parents of a soldier killed in action: “His casual cruelty to a Gold Star family, his casual suggestion that more countries should have nuclear weapons and now his casual inciting of violence.”

“Every single one of these incidents shows us that Donald Trump simply does not have the temperament to be president and commander in chief of the United States,” Clinton argued. “If you are running to be president, or you are president of the United States, words can have tremendous consequences."

Trump made the remark on Tuesday as Clinton was leaving a health clinic in Miami on Tuesday afternoon. She ignored questions from the press later that day, but her running-mate, Sen. Tim Kaine, gathered reporters in Texas to offer his own emphatic response.

”When I read the quote I couldn't believe he said it,” he said. "It is a window into the soul of a person who is just temperamentally not suited to the task.”

Clinton, making her first appearance in Iowa since the caucuses six months ago, took the opportunity to make a direct appeal for voters turned off by Trump, building on her new initiative, launched Wednesday morning, aimed at Republican and Independent voters that her campaign is calling “Together For America.”

Clinton said she’s been “humbled and moved" by Republicans who have spoken out against Trump — “not only as Republicans, but as Americams” — as “USA” and “Stronger Together” signs bobbed in the air across the Lincoln High School gymnasium.

“We may not agree on everything,” she said, “but this is not a normal election.”

ERIC THAYER / Reuters

Donald Trump praised the Clintons at length in 2008 interview with the British version of GQ magazine.

The interview, conducted just before the election by Celebrity Apprentice winner Piers Morgan, featured Trump talking about a wide variety of topics like the Iraq War, how he wanted George W. Bush impeached, his sex life, and how he thought Bill Clinton would go down as a great president. Piers Morgan blogged about the interview for the Daily Mail early this year, but did not note any of Trump's comments on Clinton, instead focusing on comments he made about Iraq.

"Whether you like Clinton or don't like Clinton, we had no deficit for the first time in many years, and were doing well economically," Trump said unprompted while discussing the recent Beijing Olympics. "And then Bush came in, and wrecked it. After (9/11), America had the chance to be the most popular country in the world, instead, in a matter of weeks, that man destroyed it. We are no longer respected like we used to be, no longer the place where people want to invest to the extent they did before. We have been seriously hurt by Bush and his cronies. I think he will go down as the worst president in history."

Later, Trump said Clinton was impeached for far worse than Bush on Iraq.

"He purposely lied, and his lies got us into a war," said Trump. "But he wasn't impeached. Clinton was impeached for something that wasn't one millionth as important."

The Republican nominee also said he thought Barack Obama would win the election easier if he picked Hillary Clinton as his vice president. (Trump blogged that same year Clinton would make a great president or vice president, BuzzFeed News reported in December.)

"I think he would have had a much easier chance of winning if he had chosen Hillary Clinton as his running mate, definitely," said Trump. "But obviously he doesn't like her, and I don't believe the Clintons like him."

Trump then, after defending claims Bill Clinton cheated in golf, said he thought he'd go down as a great president.

"Bill's one strong guy," said Trump. "And he will go down as a great president. I have a lot of respect for him."

And, Trump added, he wasn't sure if America was ready for a black president.

"Nobody knows. That is what makes it so fascinating," he said. "I have a great relationship with blacks. Russell Simmons told me I was the most popular white man in America! I like blacks and they like me. But in numerous elections where a black candidate has been leading substantially, they either didn't win or it was a much closer 'squeaker' than predicted. Race is a huge factor."

The Republican presidential nominee also doubled down on his statement that President Obama founded ISIS.

Donald Trump said Thursday "it's ok" if he lost the presidential election because he would go back to "a very good way of life."

In an interview with CNBC, Trump said, "I'm a truth teller. All I do is tell the truth. And if at the end of 90 days, I fall in short because I'm somewhat politically correct even though I'm supposed to be the smart one and even though I'm supposed to have a lot of good ideas, it's ok. You know, I go back to a very good way of life. It's not what I'm looking to do. I think we're going to have a victory, but we'll see."

He later said, "at the end, it's either going to work or I'm going to have a very very nice long vacation."

Evan Vucci / AP

Trump also argued with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt about what he meant when he said Obama founded ISIS. After Hewitt told Trump that Obama "hates" ISIS and "is trying to kill them," Trump responded, "I don't care. He was the founder."

In an interview Thursday, Hewitt told Trump that he knew what the presidential nominee meant when he said Obama founded ISIS. "You meant that he created the vacuum, he lost the peace," Hewitt said.

Trump responded, "No, I meant he's the founder of ISIS. I do. He was the most valuable player."

Hewitt then argued, "But he's not sympathetic to them. He hates them. He's trying to kill them."

"I don't care," Trump replied. "He was the founder. His, the way he got out of Iraq, was that, that was the founding of ISIS, ok?"

Responding to Trump's comments, Clinton's senior adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement Thursday, "This is another example of Donald Trump trash-talking the United States. It goes without saying that this is a false claim from a presidential candidate with an aversion to the truth and an unprecedented lack of knowledge."

Sullivan said that Trump was echoing the "talking points of Putin and our adversaries" to attack American leaders, while "failing to offer any serious plans to confront terrorism or make this country more secure."

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He also refused to comment on whether he made a mistake criticizing the Muslim parents of a slain American soldier, saying, "You'll have to define what a mistake means." He said the the controversy about his comments on the Khan family had "been put to bed for a long time."

View Entire List ›

ERIC THAYER / Reuters

Donald Trump has said repeatedly during the campaign that President Obama "founded ISIS," a remark that has come under scrutiny in recent days.

"He's the founder of ISIS. He's the founder of ISIS. He's the founder. He founded ISIS," Trump said at a Wednesday rally.

Trump has cited the conservative critique of President Obama's Iraq policy — that the withdrawal of troops in 2011 led to a power vacuum that allowed ISIS to flourish — in making the claim.

"He was the founder of ISIS, absolutely," Trump said on CNBC on Thursday. "The way he removed our troops — you shouldn't have gone in. I was against the war in Iraq. Totally against it." (Trump was not against the war as he has repeatedly claimed.) "The way he got out of Iraq was that that was the founding of ISIS, OK?" Trump later said.

But lost in Trump's immediate comments is that, for years, he pushed passionately and forcefully for the same immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq. In interview after interview in the later 2000s, Trump said American forces should be removed from Iraq.

"First, I'd get out of Iraq right now," Trump said to British GQ in a 2008 interview. "And by the way, I am the greatest hawk who ever lived, a far greater hawk even than Bush. I am the most militant military human being who ever lived. I'd rebuild our military arsenal, and make sure we had the finest weapons in the world. Because countries such as Russia have no respect for us, they laugh at us. Look at what happened in Georgia, a place we were supposed to be protecting."

Later, Trump said he wished Arizona Sen. John McCain, whom he was backing in the election, had supported pulling troops out of Iraq faster.

"I wish he would promise to get us out of Iraq faster," said Trump. "I am not in love with that aspect of what he represents."

Those comments echoed similar remarks in March 2007 when he said forces should be immediately withdrawn from Iraq.

"You know how they get out? They get out," Trump said to CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "That's how they get out. Declare victory and leave, because I'll tell you, this country is just going to get further bogged down. They're in a civil war over there, Wolf. There's nothing that we're going to be able to do with a civil war. They are in a major civil war."

Speaking with Howard Stern in October of that year, Trump said McCain's support for keeping troops in Iraq was costing him the Republican nomination.

"Anybody who stays in Iraq — look at what happened to McCain — he want to show how tough he is, he's sunk, immediately, and that's with the Republicans."

By late 2011, Trump notoriously began saying the U.S. should take Iraq's oil before withdrawing. Trump also told CNN's Piers Morgan in February of that year he would get of troops in Iraq "out real fast." By 2016, he completely adopted the conservative critique of the Iraq withdrawal.

Sara D. Davis / Getty Images

In 2005, Donald Trump claimed to a new record in his portfolio: The Learning Annex, an adult education company, had agreed to pay him $1.5 million per speech.

It was the highest speaking fee ever, a Learning Annex press release declared.

"The Learning Annex is paying me $1.5 Million... to Teach," Trump is quoted as saying in a newspaper ad for the real estate lectures. "Are they crazy?"

But as lawyers for Trump biographer Timothy O'Brien discovered in 2007, the company was actually paying Trump much less than that. He admitted in a deposition that the amount the company paid him in cash was "approximately $400,000" and that the numbers over $1 million he had publicly cited included "promotion expenses" like newspaper ads and billboards.

"It has a great value to me," Trump said of the promotion.

But numerous public statements by Trump, The Learning Annex, and company founder Bill Zanker presented $1 million and $1.5 million as Trump's speaking fees. When news outlets like Reuters, Associated Press, the Toronto Star, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News, Mother Jones, and the New York Times reported these claims, they did so without the caveat that the figures might account for anything beyond a straightforward speaking fee.

A book co-authored with Trump, a Learning Annex executive contradicted Trump's claim, saying the alleged million dollar speaking didn't include promotional expenses.

The issue provides yet another example of how Trump for years fooled the press with lofty statements about his business ventures only for the truth to trickle out weeks and sometimes even months later.

Asked by Larry King in 2005 about reports that he'd earned $1 million for a Learning Annex speech, Trump said, "That's true."

"$16,000 a minute is a lot of money, I know," Zanker told the Chicago Tribune, referring to Trump's supposed hourly rate. "He wanted more — a lot more," Zanker added.

When King brought up the $1 million figure in another interview with Trump the following year, Trump said, "It's actually more than that."

Though it's not clear how much Trump's speaking fee actually went up, or whether it did at all, Zanker told reporters that the star of The Apprentice had, in typical Trump fashion, demanded and received a better deal.

“The boldest thing I’ve seen him do was get a raise from $1 million to $1.5 million for a one-hour speech," Zanker told Westchester Magazine, praising Trump. "He was prepared to walk. I threatened, I screamed, but in the end, I paid.”

"Donald Trump, the Real Estate Rock Star of The Learning Annex Real Estate Expo, is getting a raise," said an October Learning Annex press release. "The nation's toughest boss is getting a 50 percent pay hike in salary from $1 million an hour to $1.5 million. That is $25,000 a minute. It is also the highest price ever paid for a speech."

In November, The New York Times reported Zanker saying that the hefty fee he paid Rupert Murdoch paled in comparison to what he paid Trump.

"After all, he noted, he gives Donald J. Trump $1.5 million to deliver a one-hour lecture at real-estate seminars." the Times wrote.

''Paying Rupert Murdoch $1,000 a minute for a one-hour lunch feels like a
bargain compared to the $25,000 a minute I'm paying Donald Trump," Zanker told the paper.

A November press release from The Learning Annex said that the company would pay him $15 million in 2006, featuring a quote from Zanker defending the alleged $1.5 million fee.

"In the 25-year history of The Learning Annex, there's never been a bigger draw than Donald Trump," his statement said. "Nobody's even a close second. He's worth every dollar we're paying him and then some. Additionally, Donald Trump is the greatest natural speaker I have ever seen, and I have been doing this all of my life."

Zanker's partnership with Trump did not end with The Learning Annex speeches. The two wrote a book together, Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life, published in 2007. In it, Zanker addresses the speaking fee, discussing it in terms more similar to those Trump used that year's deposition than those he'd used in the past.

"If you consider the advertising, promotions, and everything The Learning
Annex does to enhance the Trump brand, nationally and internationally,
Donald gets much more than $1.5 million per speech—but he donates much
of the money to charity," Zanker wrote in the book. (BuzzFeed News and the Washington Post have reported extensively on Trump's claims about his charitable giving, which he has not substantiated.)

Reached on Wednesday by BuzzFeed News, Zanker refused to comment on the speeches or the exaggeration of Trump's fee.

"Donald went over that," Zanker said. "Donald answered that correctly, okay?"

"You don't want to ask me, you want to ask Donald," he later added, before eventually hanging up.

A Trump campaign representative didn't return a request for comment. See some of the examples below:

An October 19, 2005 press release from The Learning Annex:

NEW YORK, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Donald Trump, the Real Estate Rock Star of The Learning Annex Real Estate Expo, is getting a raise. The nation's toughest boss is getting a 50 percent pay hike in salary from $1 million an hour to $1.5 million. That is $25,000 a minute. It is also the highest price ever paid for a speech.

According to Bill Zanker, Founder and President of the 25 year old Learning Annex Company, "Mr. Trump is the most amazing speaker we've ever had in our 25 year history. He is worth every penny of what we pay him. Our students adore him and he is the perfect star for our Real Estate Wealth Expo. He is a real estate mogul and a Hollywood celebrity. There is no one better than Donald, and no one else who can draw such a crowd." The last time Mr.

Trump spoke for the Learning Annex in Los Angeles, a record crowd of 46,000 people attended. Mr. Trump has signed on to talk about Real Estate at The Learning Annex Real Estate Wealth Expo in several cities including Chicago in November, and in 2006 in Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Boston. This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, October 22nd and 23rd, The Learning Annex Real

Estate Expo takes place at the Jacob Javits Center in New York and 48,500 people have signed up. This will be the largest speaking event, and the largest consumer real estate expo ever. For 48,500 savvy NY'ers, there is no Real Estate bubble.

Learning Annex ads boasting about the speaking fee in newspapers:

Learning Annex/LA Times

And Trump boasted to Larry King in 2006 he got more than one million dollars for his Learning Annex speeches:

KING: On marketing and real estate. I saw those. You have tapes. You're everywhere. And what is this thing with the Learning Annex?

TRUMP: Well, the Learning Annex...

KING: Look at this ad in the "L.A. Times".

TRUMP: The Learning -- I didn't put that in. The Learning Annex is a great institution and they have seminars and as an example this coming Sunday we have a seminar in San Francisco, 61,500 people. We're having one in Los Angeles in about three weeks. We have over 50,000 people coming.

And for some reason I draw large crowds and the Learning Annex people liked me very, very much and we talk about making money. We talk about life. We talk about sort of everything but a lot of people show up to the Learning Annex seminars that I give with the Learning Annex. And then we have other speakers also but I'm the featured speaker and it really is very exciting. We just left Dallas. We had 11,000 people. It was unbelievable.

KING: And you do it like a lecture?

TRUMP: I do it like a lecture and frankly they pay me a lot of money but I do it because I love doing it. I really enjoy doing it. It's usually on a Sunday night, so I'll leave either New York City of Palm Beach. I'll fly out to wherever the destination is and we'll have crowds that are unbelievable.

KING: True I read that in New York you got $1 million?

TRUMP: The speech, yes.

KING: For the Learning Annex.

TRUMP: Yes, that's true. It's actually more than that.

Learning Annex's Bill Zanker addressed the fee in the book he wrote with Trump, Think Big and Kick Ass:

That is an example of the Trump attitude. Trump knows his worth, and he gets people to pay him for it. But it is not only for the money. With Trump it is never just for the money. He is passionate about everything he does. He loves connecting with people, helping them, and educating them. If you consider the advertising, promotions, and everything The Learning Annex does to enhance the Trump brand, nationally and internationally, Donald gets much more than $1.5 million per speech— but he donates much of the money to charity.

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Florida Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Democrat also running for the Senate seat currently held by Marco Rubio, said earlier this week that he is an immigrant.

Asked by Fusion's Jorge Ramos about Donald Trump in an interview that first aired on Tuesday night, Murphy criticized what he called Trump's "hatred and fear-mongering."

"We are stronger as one, as a united country," he said in a clip uploaded to YouTube by NTK Network. "That’s what makes this country so beautiful and so unique. You know, you think of the Statue of Liberty, right? And all of us. I’m an immigrant. We’re all basically immigrants here. And you think of that beacon of hope, of opportunity, and Trump is tearing that apart. And that is scary to me.”

Murphy is not an immigrant. According to the biography on his House website, he was "born and raised in Florida, spending most of his childhood along the South Florida coast."

Murphy is running against fellow congressman Alan Grayson to be the Democratic nominee to challenge Rubio. Though he is considered the front-runner heading into the Aug. 30 primary, his campaign has been hampered by reporting showing that he exaggerated his résumé, including his experience as a certified public accountant and small-business owner.

CHRIS KEANE / Reuters

WARREN, Mich. — Hillary Clinton took direct aim Thursday at the issue that has weakened her credibility with progressives and made her opponent an unlikely populist icon for hundreds of thousands of working-class and blue-collar Americans.

Trade.

Clinton delivered an economic speech from the factory floor of Futuramic, an aerospace company here outside Detroit, the struggling home of American manufacturing, laying into Donald Trump's resistance to international trade deals as an approach "based on fear, not strength" and a cornerstone of the “America First” doctrine that she said would only “cut ourselves off from the world.”

Since the start of the race more than 15 months ago, trade policy has created some of Clinton’s most difficult political terrain, first against Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, and now against Trump, a Republican whose positions mark a major departure from the party’s long-standing support for free trade deals.

Last October, as the race tightened against Sanders, the liberal senator from Vermont, Clinton distanced herself from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive trade deal negotiated by President Obama’s administration with Japan and 11 other countries. As secretary of state, Clinton argued in favor of the TPP, which she described as the “gold standard” for “open, free, transparent, fair trade.”

Amid pressure from progressives last year, Clinton broke with her own past statements, saying she could not support the deal because of “unanswered questions” and currency manipulation that could possibly affect American jobs.

Last month at the Democratic convention, Clinton's support for the TPP came under question again when Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a longtime friend, suggested that once in the White House she might look to support or renegotiate the deal. Among progressives, there is also concern that the deal might be passed and signed during the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress. Progressive groups have said they want Clinton to publicly oppose such an effort.

On Thursday, in her speech here at Futuramic, Clinton spoke unequivocally about her stance on TPP, ruling the possibility of future support: "I will stop any trade deal that kills jobs or holds down wages, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership. I oppose it now, I’ll oppose it after the election, and I’ll oppose it as president."

Clinton acknowledged the anxiety over trade that Trump has channeled since the start of his presidential campaign and still talks about “all the time,” she said.

“It’s true that too often, past trade deals have been sold to the American people with rosy scenarios that didn’t pan out,” Clinton said, adding that enforcement has been too lax, to the detriment of American workers.

“Those promises now ring hollow in many communities across Michigan and our country that have seen factories close and jobs disappear.”

Clinton promised to apply a firm hand to trade negotiations, set a "high bar" for deals, triple the number of trade enforcement officers, and create the role of a chief trade prosecutor. In recent polls, Clinton actually leads among voters when asked who they think would better handle trade.

Trump, she told a crowd of 450 invited guests, “may talk a big game on trade, but his approach is based on fear, not strength — fear that we can’t compete with the rest of the world even when the rules are fair; fear that that our country has no choice but to hide behind walls.”

“The answer is not to rant and rave — or to cut ourselves off from the world,” Clinton said. “That would kill even more jobs.”

“If Team USA was as fearful as Trump, Michael Phelps and Simone Biles would be cowering in the locker room, afraid to come out to compete,” she added of the two star Olympians. “Instead, they’re winning gold medals! America isn’t afraid to compete.”

Clinton’s 40-minute address — one of a handful of major economic speeches she’s delivered this year — came as a rebuttal to a new set of tax proposals, unveiled by Trump at his campaign event on Monday, including a new tax loophole targeting what’s called “pass-through income” — income that passes through a business directly to its owners.

The proposal would help small businesses, as Trump has noted, but would also aid rich owners like the candidate himself, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

"Let’s call it the ‘Trump Loophole,’” Clinton told voters here Thursday.

In her own campaign, the Democratic nominee has proposed a series of expensive investments in infrastructure, housing, education, and clean energy, all aimed at boosting wages and creating jobs, and paid for by a new tax on multi-millionaires and closing the so-called carried interest loophole. (Trump also supports ending the carried interest loophole.)

Clinton, whose campaign launched a new effort Wednesday at winning Republican and Independent voters, made another blunt pitch here for their support as she outlined her proposals.

Members of Trump’s own party, she noted, have rejected what she described at various points on Thursday as his “outlandish ideas,” his “negative, pessimistic view,” and his “Trumpian spin.”

“I hope that after giving a fair hearing to both sides,” she said, “you’ll join the millions of people across the country supporting our campaign, not just Democrats, but a growing number of Republicans and Independents, as well."