Alexander Burns and Alan Rappeport
Politifact gave Trump a “Pants on Fire” grade over his claim that Obama abused a Trump supporter.
In the final weekend of the race, Mr. Trump has been clinging to a new myth about President Obama and deriding him for lashing out at a pro-Trump protester at a rally on Friday.
Mr. Trump said that Mr. Obama was “really screaming” at the protester and that his behavior was a “disgrace.”
“If I spoke the way Obama spoke to that protester they would say 'he became unhinged,’” Mr. Trump declared.
On Sunday, Politifact, the fact-checking web site, analyzed the tape of Mr. Obama at the rally to determine whether Mr. Trump’s criticism was fair.
“Obama defended the protester’s right to speak out, and didn’t scream at him,” according to Politifact’s Allison Graves: “In fact, Obama’s remarks were directed at Clinton supporters, not the protester.”
Ms. Graves added: “Trump got this all wrong.”
Clinton is not likely to be back in Florida before Election Day, but she is sending in the big guns.
Clinton is not likely to be back in Florida before Election Day, but she is sending in the big guns.
Early voting is coming to a close in Florida, the nation’s largest swing state, and Mrs. Clinton is not expected to return there before Election Day. But on the campaign’s last weekend, she is sending her most prized surrogate, President Obama, to rev up turnout in the Orlando area.
Mr. Obama has been an indispensable force in getting out the vote, and the site for his visit is no accident. Steve Schale, a Democratic strategist tracking early turnout in Florida, detailed a distinct bump in Democratic voting around Jacksonville after Mr. Obama’s visit there on Thursday. And while Democrats have enjoyed a big boost from Latino voting in the Orlando area, they see room to grow, especially among black voters.
The hope for Mrs. Clinton’s campaign is that with most of Florida already having voted, she will have built a meaningful lead before Election Day. But Mr. Trump is still going all out in the state, campaigning in Tampa on Saturday and planning a visit to Sarasota on Monday.
In the final push, Clinton looks to Khan and LeBron.
Mrs. Clinton has campaigned with a powerhouse lineup of supporters over the past week, and two people joining her on Sunday are among the most potent. In Ohio, she will appear alongside LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers star and a revered figure in the biggest swing state leaning toward Mr. Trump.
Mr. James does not routinely intervene in politics, so his support for Mrs. Clinton — and the tone and language of his remarks — could break though in a way that most celebrity endorsements do not.
In New Hampshire, Mrs. Clinton will be joined by an electrifying figure of a different kind: Khizr Khan, whose August clash with Mr. Trump proved disastrous for the Republican nominee. The Clinton campaign has put Mr. Khan in television ads as a spokesman for inclusion and religious tolerance, and he has also proved almost uniquely capable of flummoxing Mr. Trump. Mr. Khan’s reappearance comes as Mr. Trump is struggling to stay on message.
Trump looks to stay on that message as he makes a campaign blitz to five states on Sunday.
Trump looks to stay on that message as he makes a campaign blitz to five states on Sunday.
Mr. Trump’s campaign aides have pushed him to stick to a rigid script and avoid undermining himself with loose talk as he closes out the race. He has been cooperative, up to a point. On Saturday, Mr. Trump repeatedly veered far from his prepared remarks, offering free-form thoughts on the news media, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and the offensive to retake Mosul, Iraq. He also repeated a false story that Mr. Obama had screamed at a pro-Trump protester.
On Sunday, Mr. Trump’s discipline may be strained further as he campaigns at a frenzied pace, largely in states that he is likely to lose. He is due to visit five states, four of which — Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virginia — appear to be leaning toward Mrs. Clinton.
His campaign has spun it as a bold move to exploit his rising fortunes in the race. The reality is harsher: Mr. Trump is trying to put blue states in play because he is running out of ways to assemble 270 electoral votes, and he may need a long-shot state to break his way.
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