Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is questioning the mental health of his Democratic opponent, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The brash real estate tycoon told a rally in New Hampshire on Saturday, "She is a totally unhinged person. She's unbalanced." Trump mocked her comment that she "short-circuited" in answering a question about her truthfulness in her handling of national security material on the unsecured, private email server she used while she was the country's top diplomat from 2009 to 2013.
Trump told the crowd he has "a winning temperament."
The Clinton campaign, in response, said, "It's unfortunate that Trump's only method of dealing with his own disastrous week is to lash out with more absurd personal attacks."
Saturday was Trump's first visit to the state of New Hampshire since the pivotal Republican primary election there in February, which Trump won by a wide margin. But a poll in the northeastern state last week showed Clinton with a 15-percentage point lead over Trump three months ahead of the national November election to replace President Barack Obama when he leaves office in January.
Clinton widening lead
A new Washington Post-ABC News national poll Sunday showed Clinton with 50 to 42 percent lead over Trump, double the four-point advantage she held in mid-July before both the Republican and Democratic national conventions. The news organizations said, however, that nearly six in 10 voters remain dissatisfied with the choice between Clinton and Trump.
The Boston Globe reported Trump also attended two fundraising events Saturday in Massachusetts, in wealthy resort areas on Nantucket Island and on Cape Cod. Donors were expected to contribute $2,700 or more to attend the gatherings, one of which was at the home of Bill Koch, brother of Charles and David Koch, wealthy long-time donors to Republican causes who have refused to endorse Trump.
Clinton has nothing listed on her public schedule until Monday, when she makes campaign appearances in Florida and New York City.
Endorsements
On Friday, Trump endorsed some of the country's top Republicans running for re-election, as a gesture of party unity after several national surveys showed the billionaire businessman falling behind Clinton.
Trump endorsed the re-election campaigns of House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senators John McCain and Kelly Ayotte. He had delayed giving those three Republicans his public support, in Ryan's case, saying he was "not quite there yet." Trump drew criticism from other high-ranking Republicans for his reluctance to endorse other Republicans who have voiced lukewarm support for his candidacy.
A Reuters/Ipsos survey released late Friday showed Clinton's lead over Trump narrowed to less than three percentage points, a drop from eight points in its previous survey four days earlier. But a McClatchy/Marist poll, showed Clinton widening her lead over Trump to 15 points nationwide, 48 percent to 33 percent. And another poll by Fox News showed Clinton with a 10-point lead.
The nonpartisan website RealClearPolitics.com, which calculates an average of results from multiple opinion polls, reports Clinton has a seven-point lead over Trump, 47.5 percent to 40.5 percent.
The intra-party tensions and Trump's feud with the Muslim parents of a U.S. military officer who was killed in combat in Iraq appeared to have boosted Clinton's standing in the polls in the past week.
