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Clinton attracts celebrity firepower as Trump goes it alone

Singers Beyoncé and Jay Z have delivered a powerful endorsement to Hillary Clinton as the ...
Newstalk
Newstalk

08.12 5 Nov 2016


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Clinton attracts celebrity fir...

Clinton attracts celebrity firepower as Trump goes it alone

Newstalk
Newstalk

08.12 5 Nov 2016


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Singers Beyoncé and Jay Z have delivered a powerful endorsement to Hillary Clinton as the US presidential campaign enters its final phase.

The Democratic candidate joined music's power couple on stage at a free concert in Cleveland, in the critical battleground state of Ohio.

Thousands had packed into a university venue to hear Jay Z - before the billionaire rapper and producer introduced his wife as a special guest.

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People picking up tickets to the event had been encouraged to register to vote nearby.

The event was the culmination of a three-star swing by Mrs Clinton to encourage young and African-American voters to go to the polls.

Mrs Clinton asked the Cleveland crowd: "Will we reject a dark and divisive future and embrace a unified America?"

In 2008, Jay Z performed free concerts in support of Barack Obama's presidential run. He told fans that Donald Trump was "divisive" and would not be a president for him.

Beyoncé said: "We have the opportunity to create more change. I want my daughter to grow up seeing a woman lead our country and know her possibilities are limitless."

Image via @HillaryClinton on Twitter

But Mr Trump defended his go-it-alone approach, saying he did not need stars to draw thousands to his events.

"I didn't have to bring J-Lo or Jay Z," the Republican candidate told a crowded rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania. "I am here all by myself. Just me. No guitar, no piano, no nothing."

On the campaign trail, Mr Trump has continued to hammer the former Secretary of State's record and said she could not keep America safe.

He told a crowd in New Hampshire: "Her plans would mean generations of terrorism, extremism and radicalism spreading into your schools and through your communities."

He again promised to restore America and build a wall between the US and Mexico.

"To all Americans, I say we need new leadership."

And the current president has also returned to the campaign trail in North Carolina.

Mr Obama interrupted his speech on a university campus to defend the right of a pro-Trump supporter in the crowd. He told them to "sit down and be quiet" and urged supporters to remain focused.

Mr Obama is due to continue campaigning for Mrs Clinton through the weekend and until the night before election day on Tuesday.

Mr Trump and Mrs Clinton are spending Saturday campaigning in Florida, their last-ditch efforts to win support in a state where early voting has already exceeded 2012 levels.

The latest set of polls will provide a source of comfort for the Clinton campaign, in a race that appears to have tightened over recent days.

A Reuters/Ipsos survey shows Mrs Clinton ahead by 5 points, an ABC news poll puts her 4 points in front, and a Fox News poll has her two points ahead.

But in the RealClear Politics polls of polls, Mrs Clinton's lead remains tight: 1.6 points ahead of Mr Trump.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Mr Trump's wife Melania may have worked in the US as a model without the correct visa.

According to accounting ledgers, contracts and related documents from 20 years ago provided to the Associated Press, Mrs Trump was paid for 10 modeling jobs worth over US$20,000 that occurred in the seven weeks before she had legal permission to work in the US.

In another development, intelligence services have warned that al Qaeda might be preparing attacks in three states ahead of Tuesday. Security is being tightened in New York, Texas and Virginia.


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