The view from Middletown: voters seem embarrassed – not angry
Sexual misconduct: Trump campaign rocked by new wave of allegations
Dangerous idiots: how the liberal media failed working-class Americans
Video: Michelle Obama’s powerful rebuke to Trump’s ‘predatory behavior’
4.54am BST
This is not normal, this is not politics as usual. This is disgraceful, it is intolerable, and it doesn’t matter what party you belong to... No woman deserves to be treated this way – none of us deserves this kind of abuse.
4.43am BST
Speaking to a Linda Ross, a friend of Jessica Leeds, a woman who has accused Donald Trump of physically assaulting her onboard an airline flight in 1979, CNN’s Don Lemon revealed tonight the moment when Leeds decided to come forward with her allegations.
“We were sitting together on her couch, and I looked right at her and I said, ‘Oh, my God, Jessica, he just flat out lied right to our faces,’” Ross said, regarding the moment in the second presidential debate in which Trump pledged that he had never sexually assaulted a woman.
4.27am BST
Even the right-tilting New York Post seems to be going bearish on Donald Trump in its woodcut for tomorrow:
Tomorrow's Cover: Donald Trump launches an all-out attack after multiple women accuse him of sexual assault https://t.co/juq3rYptyK pic.twitter.com/3i2NuvINkK
4.18am BST
A new poll in the Lone Star State has Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s lead over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton slipping to a mere four percentage points, within the margin of error in a state that hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential nominee in four decades.
The WFAA-TV and Texas TEGNA television stations poll shows Trump holding a four-point lead over Clinton, 47% to Clinton’s 43% in a survey with a four-point margin of error.
4.05am BST
After a day of extraordinary statements – attacking women who have accused him of sexual assault, and invoking shocking antisemitic tropes – Donald Trump exercised what might be seen as a rare degree of restraint.
Speaking to a Cincinnati arena filled with roughly 15,000 people tonight, he merely insulted the state’s Republican governor, mocked Hillary Clinton’s health and watched as his supporters treated the press with the same affection that lions in the Coliseum treated Christians.
.@TeamTrump should avoid rhetoric&tropes that historically have been used ag. Jews & still spur #antisemitism. Lets keep hate out of cmpgn https://t.co/9LMnurQ3Xg
3.57am BST
A good reminder that, for those of you lucky enough to not have to watch Sean Hannity’s television show as part of your job, he’s a little soft on the facts.
Kathleen Willey tells Sean Hannity the mainstream media hasn't reached out to her. I contacted her repeatedly for a year. No response.
3.51am BST
Tony Abbott has described some of Donald Trump’s policies as “classic conservatism” while calling others “over the top” after garnering criticism for seemingly giving support to the Republican presidential candidate.
The former Australian prime minister urged “Trump haters” not to get “too excited” over his comments after he told Paul Murray on Sky News that the vast majority of Trump supporters were not deplorables.
Before the Trump haters get too excited, some of his views are OTT but cutting tax and boosting defence are classic conservatism
Related: Tony Abbott defends Trump’s policies as ‘reasonable enough’ and ‘classic conservatism’
3.45am BST
A famously right-leaning Idaho newspaper has endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, acknowledging that while there was “low to medium enthusiasm for Clinton” on the paper’s editorial board, none of its members could bring themselves to endorse Donald Trump.
Citing issues relevant to Idaho voters ranging from education, immigration and rural issues to gun control and health care, the Idaho Statesman, the state’s most widely circulated newspaper, criticized Trump as insufficiently reliable on conservative issues, or unreliable, period.
3.32am BST
Sean Hannity, in his interview with three women who have accused former president Bill Clinton of sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape, inferred from their anecdotes on his show that they might fear for their lives if Hillary Clinton were to be elected president.
“There’s been so many things happen to so many people connected to the Clintons,” Paula Jones said. “She’s gonna rule the world.”
3.24am BST
Fox News personality Sean Hannity, who has functioned as an arm of the Trump campaign’s communications strategy since the Republican primaries, held a special on his show tonight in which he interviewed a trio of women who have accused former president Bill Clinton, husband of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, of sexual impropriety.
3.09am BST
Citing three staffers from the hit reality show The Apprentice that turned Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump into a star, The Daily Beast reports that Trump “had a habit of insulting, mimicking, and demeaning” Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin, who is deaf.
“[Trump] would often equate that she was mentally retarded,” one staffer, who like the others was bound by an ironclad nondisclosure agreement, told The Daily Beast.
3.00am BST
Indian governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence was asked about self-image by a journalist quoting an 11-year-old girl, who said that when she heard words used by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, “they make me feel bad about myself.”
Pence’s response:
Well, I would say to any one of my kids and any children in this country that Donald trump and I are committed to a safer and more prosperous future for their family. The weak and feckless foreign policy that Hillary Clinton promises to continue has literally caused wider areas of the world to spin apart. The rise of terrorist threats that have inspired violence here at home, and we’ve seen an erosion of law and order in our streets. And we’ve seen opportunities and jobs evaporate and even leave Ohio and leave this country. I would say to any of our kids that if Donald Trump and I have the chance to serve in the White House that we’re going to work every day for a stronger, safer and more prosperous America.
2.55am BST
A review of hundreds of pages of sealed records into charities aimed at benefitting those affected by the September 11 terrorist attacks by the New York City controller show that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump may not have fulfilled a self-made obligation to donate $10,000 to a major 9/11 charity, according to the New York Daily News.
“For the periods covered by the audits, we did not find any record of a donation from Trump himself or a Trump entity to either the Twin Towers Fund or the New York City Public/Private Initiative,” said New York City controller Scott Stringer in a statement to the Daily News.
2.37am BST
Hillary Clinton hinted at a possible landslide in the 8 November election, exhorting several thousand supporters at a San Francisco fundraiser on Thursday to help her “have the kind of victory we need” to serve as a “rebuke” to Donald Trump.
Related: Clinton: landslide victory would be a rebuke to Trump's 'bigotry and bullying'
2.28am BST
This sounds familiar: after yesterday’s tape of a then 46-year-old Donald Trump saying of a young girl “I am going to be dating her in 10 years”, here’s a report from the same year (1992) in which Trump reportedly told two 14-year-olds: “In a couple of years, I’ll be dating you.”
Donald Trump once told 14-year-old girls, 'In a couple of years, I'll be dating you' https://t.co/nslYeqp8dg pic.twitter.com/ayDeW6nGNz
2.22am BST
And what of Mike Pence? Trump’s VP candidate was interviewed on Thursday evening and was pressed directly by WBNS’ Scott Light on the claims that have been made against his running mate.
Light: But governor, can you say with certainty that he has never done this: assaulted a woman. Yes or no?
Pence: I can say with certainty that Donald Trump has denied that any of those actions that have been alleged have ever occurred. And I believe him.
1.59am BST
People magazine is standing by its reporter Natasha Stoynoff and her allegations that Donald Trump forcibly kissed her against her will, despite receiving a letter from Melania Trump’s lawyers, according to CNN:
People Magazine spox confirms they received the letter from Melania Trump’s lawyer, and says they stand by their story.
We are grateful to Natasha Stoynoff for telling her story. Ms Stoynoff is a remarkable, ethical, honest and patriotic woman, and she has shared her story of being physically attacked by Donald Trump in 2005 because she felt it was her duty to make the public aware.
To assign any other motive is a disgusting, pathetic attempt to victimize her again. We stand steadfastly by her, and are proud to publish her clear, credible account of what happened.
1.55am BST
Australia’s former prime minister Tony Abbott – he’s a Liberal, but not in the sense that Trump supporters might use the word – has praised the Republican nominee for his “classic conservative” policies, while conceding that “some of his views” might go a bit far:
Before the Trump haters get too excited, some of his views are OTT but cutting tax and boosting defence are classic conservatism
They deserve the absolutely universal condemnation that they’ve received.
1.44am BST
If the slew of Trump allegations and his responses are getting a bit much, Hillary Clinton shares your pain, she told a rally in San Francisco earlier on Thursday:
It makes you want to unplug the internet or just look at cat gifs.
Believe me, in the last few weeks, I have watched a lot of cats do a lot of weird and interesting things.
1.38am BST
And back in Cincinnati, where Trump has just said there is no better or safer place to be than a Trump rally:
Not fans of political correctness pic.twitter.com/0BnkwIGm2I
1.33am BST
Meanwhile:
Barack Obama is LIGHTING INTO Republicans who just now figured out Trump is unacceptable. "You don't get points for that."
"People who know better stood silently by." Can't argue with that.
1.28am BST
Trump says if Clinton goes to China "if she goes down in Tiananmen Square, they'll just leave her there."
1.23am BST
Trump says “multi-generational terrorism … is embedded in our communities … all over our country”:
I am going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country!
1.18am BST
Donald Trump is speaking now in Cincinnati. He’s on to his favoured topics: Hillary Clinton should be locked up; he’ll appoint a special prosecutor to investigate her. He’s going to build a wall. And who is going to pay for it, he muses.
Mexico, the crowd helpfully supplies.
Trump: The Clintons are the past but we are all going to be together a very bright future
1.08am BST
A lawyer for Billy Bush – caught on tape laughing along with Trump’s comments about groping women – has said Bush would have been fired if he had stood up to Trump, Associated Press reports:
An attorney for Billy Bush is defending the TV personality’s part in a lewd 2005 exchange with Donald Trump.
Marshall Grossman told the Hollywood Reporter that Bush would have been fired from his then job with Access Hollywood if he’d been passive or told Trump to shut up.
Related: Who is Billy Bush: the man egging on Trump in tape about groping women
12.53am BST
Let’s hope People magazine is checking its Twitter notifications: it looks as if Melania Trump’s lawyers have sent that letter to the wrong postal address.
Mathew Katz, news editor at Time magazine (People is part of Time Inc), says the company moved almost a year ago:
This was mailed to the wrong address - we (Time Inc.) moved downtown in November https://t.co/yhXkx3mLPt
12.41am BST
Melania Trump has now weighed in on the flurry of accusations that have hit her husband in recent days, posting to Twitter a letter apparently sent by her lawyers to People magazine, which published an account by reporter Natasha Stoynoff who said Donald Trump had kissed her against her will at his Mar-A-Lago estate a decade ago.
The letter – tweeted with only a “!” for comment – demands that People magazine remove and apologise for statements in the article that describe a meeting between Stoynoff and Melania Trump after the alleged groping took place:
Mrs Trump did not encounter Ms Stoynoff on the street, nor have any conversation with her. The two are not friends and were never friends or even friendly.
At the time in question, Mrs Trump would not have even recognized Ms Stoynoff if they had encountered one another on the street.
Failure to do so will require Mrs Trump to consider her legal options.
! @people #NatashaStoynoff pic.twitter.com/zXNm6boveP
11.38pm BST
Only hours old, this speech is being lauded as one of the most important addresses of this presidential campaign.
Give it a watch.
11.28pm BST
Comedian Rob Delaney has raised tens of thousands of dollars in a bid to oust Republicans who tried to distance themselves from Donald Trump following his recent scandals.
Related: Rob Delaney raises almost $70,000 against former pro-Trump Republicans
11.07pm BST
I think my job is to tell people why Hillary should be president. I think Michelle Obama just gave the best speech of the campaign. I have nothing else to say.
11.03pm BST
During a 1998 appearance on CNBC with host Chris Matthews, current Republican presidential nominee and then simple tycoon Donald Trump declared that if Bill Clinton’s personal pecadillos were enough to prompt impeachment proceedings, his own history with women was more than sufficient to keep him out of the White House.
“Can you imagine how controversial I’d be?” Trump said at the time. “You think about him with the women. How about me with the women? Can you imagine?”
10.37pm BST
Speaking in Columbus, Ohio, at Columbus Middle School in an address putatively geared towards millennial voters, beleaguered Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told a raucous crowd
“Our government has been taken hostage by global special interests,” Trump said, reiterating a conspiratorial tone from earlier today that has many observers cautioning against dog-whistling.
10.27pm BST
Speaking with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Jessica Leeds, one of the dozen women who have come forward with allegations that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump behaved sexually inappropriately towards them, detailed the incident on-air for the first time.
Leeds told the New York Times in a blockbuster story published last night that Trump fondled her and kissed her while they were seated next to each other in the first-class section of a plane in 1979, an allegation Trump has denied.
10.22pm BST
Watch it live here:
10.03pm BST
Here’s the full text of comments Hillary Clinton gave the press regarding Donald Trump and cats:
“The whole world has heard Trump brag about how he mistreats women,” Clinton said. “And the disturbing stories just keep coming, but it’s more than just the way he degrades women, as horrible as that is. He has attacked immigrants, African Americans, Latinos, people with disabilities, POWs, Muslims, and our military, which he’s called a disaster. There’s hardly any part of America that he’s not targeted.”
9.52pm BST
It makes you want to unplug the internet or just look at cat gifs.
9.36pm BST
In other news relating to inappropriate sexual conduct by Republican politicians, a married Louisiana lawmaker has released a bizarre video in which he obliquely apologizes for sending explicit text messages to an underage teenage boy.
9.19pm BST
Another woman has joined the chorus of people alleging that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior towards women, after wave of claims about Trump’s alleged sexual transgressions emerged late last night.
According to a report from the Huffington Post, Lisa Boyne, Trump “paraded women in front of their table, looked under women’s skirts, and commented on whether they were wearing underwear” during a dinner in the mid-1990s:
According to Boyne, the group was seated at a semi-circular table, with the women in the middle and Trump and Casablancas flanking either end. The women couldn’t get out of their seats without one of the men getting up - which they refused to do. Instead, Boyne said, Trump insisted that the women walk across the table, allowing him to peer up their skirts while they did so. Trump ‘stuck his head right underneath their skirts,’ Boyne said, and commented on whether they were wearing underwear and what their genitalia looked like.
9.11pm BST
A new set of polls from NBC News, the Wall Street Journal and Marist College show a neck-and-neck race for president in Ohio, and a narrow gap in North Carolina, with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton trailing Republican rival Donald Trump by a single point in Ohio among likely voters, and leading him by four points in North Carolina.
In North Carolina, leads 45% to Trump’s 41%, with Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson trailing at 9%. In Ohio, Trump leads by one point, 42% to Clinton’s 41%, with Johnson at 9% and Green nominee Jill Stein at 4%.
9.03pm BST
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is hyping Michelle Obama’s widely lauded speech to a group of supporter in New Hampshire earlier today:
Every minute of Michelle Obama’s 30 minute speech today is worth watching. https://t.co/ZlEX3YaU6a
8.52pm BST
When I first reported the story of Jill Harth’s sexual assault accusation back in July, I didn’t get a single interview request to talk about it. The radio show I’d already been booked to go on engaged me only briefly, during an hour-long interview, on the matter of a woman accusing the Republican nominee of grabbing her crotch in a child’s bedroom at his Mar-a-Lago estate, before changing the subject.
Related: Trump assault allegations aren't new. Why are we only listening now? | Lucia Graves
8.43pm BST
Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus is living up to his promise to continue supporting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in the face of a tsunami of crises that threatens to drown every down-ballot Republican in the country.
In an email under the subject line “Attention required:”, Priebus writes to supporters of the Republican Party that “the future of our great country... is at stake in this election. The party that wins the White House, and controls the Senate and the House will determine the course of our nation, from our National Security, to the balance of the Supreme Court, to the future our kids and grandkids will live – it is all on the line just 26 days from now.”
8.27pm BST
Bernie Sanders has set the bar low, and implies that Donald Trump still can’t clear it:
When you run for president there has got to be at least a threshold of decency.
8.26pm BST
People Magazine has reiterated its support for a writer who penned a disturbing story in which she accused Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump of forcing her against a wall and “forc[ed] his tongue down my throat,” dismissing Trump’s attacks against the report.
“Donald Trump on Thursday spoke out against claims that he has assaulted women by defiantly attacking his accusers and the media outlets who printed their stories,” People editor in chief Jess Cagle wrote in a piece titled Why We Printed Natasha Stoynoff’s Story of Being Assaulted by Donald Trump.
8.20pm BST
But with allegations to the contrary casting an ever-growing shadow over the campaign, Trump instead sought to dismiss the accusations as a vast establishment conspiracy, orchestrated by his opponent Hillary Clinton “as part of a concerted, coordinated and vicious attack”.
“There is nothing the political establishment will not do, no lie they won’t tell to hold their prestige and power at your expense and that’s what’s happening,” he told a rally in Florida. “The establishment has trillions of dollars at stake in this election.”
Related: Trump blames sexual assault claims on collusion between Clinton and media
7.53pm BST
The Trump campaign knocks down reports that he opposed the 1990s Nato bombing of Serbian forces, saying Trump never spoke to the Serbian weekly where the remarks were said to appear. A Trump aide says she was not a go-between for Trump:
“Mr. Trump never gave an interview to the Serbian weekly magazine Nedeljnikas as falsely reported by the discredited Newsweek, nor was such an interview conducted through our Indiana State Director. This was a hoax and we look forward to receiving a formal retraction and apology from all involved.”– Jason Miller, Senior Communications Advisor
7.39pm BST
Here’s video of Michelle Obama’s powerful rebuke to Donald Trump’s “sexually predatory behavior,” in her phrase:
.@FLOTUS, I'm in awe. Thanks for putting into words what's in so many of our hearts. -H
7.31pm BST
Donald Trump Jr. reacted on a North Carolina radio station to new sex assault claims against his father described in the New York Times and elsewhere, CNN reports:
“Come on guys, it’s so ridiculous, I’ve never heard anything dumber in my life. All of sudden, two, three weeks before election, someone comes out — it’s not like he hasn’t been in the public eye for 30 years,” Trump Jr. said on Charlotte Morning News on WBT radio. “I think it’s probably a typical New York Times smear campaign. “
Donald Jr on hot mic tape: "I've had conversations like that with plenty of people. two guys, amongst themselves. makes him a normal person"
To Michelle Obama's point about how all this is also bad for boys https://t.co/UYSVqZDMRx
Why ONLY NOW is Donald Trump Jr. deleting this 5 year old tweet? pic.twitter.com/j9GnR8NEYZ
7.22pm BST
Bill Clinton has a Bob Dylan sculpture. Or the foundation does, or something.
Congrats @bobdylan on a well-deserved Nobel for wise, powerful lyrics that touched minds & hearts. And TY for this amazing orig. sculpture! pic.twitter.com/YdhpIMHiDh
7.02pm BST
A Canadian colleague has characterized this as “the most Canadian thing ever,” and we can’t say we disagree. In our time of need, it’s a video of Canadians telling USA people they love us:
6.58pm BST
“Take a look, you look at her, look at her words, you tell me what you think. I don’t think so,” Trump said of Natasha Stoynoff, who wrote the “attacked by Trump” story for People.
Trump implies that a woman is not worthy of his unwanted sexual advances because of her looks, minutes after @FLOTUS delivered this: pic.twitter.com/K4wDyUnOm5
"Our Independence Day is at hand, and it arrives finally on November 8th," Trump says, finishing a blistering speech here in FL.
6.51pm BST
Trump and his family did the Howard Stern show some years ago. Here’s Trump sitting next to daughter Ivanka and copping to being a sexual predator at which everyone laughs:
The full interview is here: https://t.co/IkSyQNg4sJ
6.47pm BST
Trump:
They knew they would stop at nothing to try to stop me. But I never knew that it would be this vile... Nevertheless, I take all these slings and arrows gladly for you. I take them for our movement.
I believe they talked about her remaining in her position under a crooked Hillary Clinton administration. That’s what I believe. That’s what I believe folks. And I think that’s what most people in this room believe.
Now I’m being punished for leaving the special club and revealing to you the terrible things that are going on with this country. Because I used to be part of the club, I’m the only one that can fix it.
6.39pm BST
Trump has just said he’s preparing a lawsuit against the New York Times for its reporting on women who have accused him of unwanted touching. Trump’s lawyer sent the Times a letter telling them to take the story down.
Here’s a letter from the New York Times’ lawyer replying to Trump’s lawyer.
David McCraw, NYT lawyer, responds to Trump’s letter. pic.twitter.com/ziPBCIjkvP
6.32pm BST
Trump says he’s the victim of “the single biggest pile-on in history”.
The great editors of the past ... ladies and gentlemen, are spinning in their graves.
These attacks are orchestrated by the Clintons and their media allies. The only thing Hillary Clinton has going for herself is the press... what they say is false and slanderous in virtually every respect.
6.28pm BST
Trump’s now talking about the People magazine writer’s account:
Why wasn’t it part of the story that appeared 12 years ago? Why wasn’t it part of the story ... it would’ve been one of the biggest stories of the year ... Think of it, [she’s doing this story] and she said I made inappropriate advances. And by the way, the area is a public, people ...
Take a look, you look at her, look at her words, you tell me what you think. I don’t think so.
These people are horrible people. They’re horrible, horrible liars.
6.24pm BST
Trump now says he’s the victim of a concerted, coordinated and vicious attack.
“It’s not coincidence that these attacks come at the exact same moment... as Wikileaks exposes documents” he says.
You take a look at these people, you study these people and you’ll understand.
6.21pm BST
This is a struggle for the survival of our nation, believe me, and this will be our last chance to save it.
Trump says the election will reveal whether the country is a democracy or whether the levers of power “are in fact controlled by a small band of global interests rigging the system. This is reality, you know it, I know it...”
6.16pm BST
Trump says the global economy will explode unless he’s elected president. Then he makes a newish claim about Clinton, that she operates in secret “in order to enrich these global financial powers.” Trump says he read it in Wikileaks.
Lock her up! chants the crowd.
6.12pm BST
What did you think of Michelle Obama’s speech? Watch it here:
If you missed FLOTUS speech just now, you can watch replay here.https://t.co/JSJwvLLHgA
Best speech of FLOTUS’s career, equal to her 2016 convention speech.
Truly honored Michelle Obama is our First Lady.
Now listen to her & get involved. https://t.co/Lr7sJEQ2lG
.@FLOTUS: Trump's comments about women have "shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn't have predicted." https://t.co/ir3KrSplho
.@FLOTUS on Trump: "This is not normal. This is not politics as usual. This is disgraceful. It is intolerable." https://t.co/NiL6b68w2T
Michelle Obama: If Trump is elected "We're telling our sons it's ok to humiliate women." https://t.co/8YTDI3Gswr https://t.co/23YSJOmk2f
6.08pm BST
Here now is Trump. This will be... different.
6.01pm BST
The first lady is winding toward her finish. A very powerful advancement of the message that Trump treats women despicably, is hurting people and the country by doing so and must not be elected:
BREAKING: First Lady on Trump: This was a powerful individual speaking openly about "sexually predatory behavior." https://t.co/UHJcVKRNiY
5.58pm BST
Meanwhile, in Trumpland:
Reporter kicked out of Trump meeting ahead of speech.
REPORTER: "Mr. Trump, can you deny, have you ever touched...?"
TRUMP: "Sleazebag." pic.twitter.com/j3TC2HN1oU
5.57pm BST
Obama:
If any of us raised a daughter like Hillary Clinton, we would be so proud... in this election, if we turn away from her, if we just stand by and let her opponent be elected, then what are we telling our children about what values they should hold.
In 2012 women’s votes were the difference between Barack winning and losing... back in 2012 Barack won New Hampshire by about 40,000 votes, which sounds like a lot, but ... the difference was just 66 votes per precinct.
5.51pm BST
The first lady is not stopping. She says that Hillary Clinton is the most qualified presidential nominee ever “and yes, she happens to be a woman.”
“Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life.”
5.47pm BST
Michelle Obama is delivering an extraordinary critique of Trump’s attack on women.
Maybe we just don’t want to believe that there are still people out there who think so little of us as women.
New Hampshire, be clear. This is not normal. This is not politics as usual. This is disgraceful. It is intolerable....
5.43pm BST
Michelle Obama says “we have heard a candidate talking about sexually assaulting women.”
She says she thinks about Trump’s comments all the time, and that they make her shake.
This was not just a lewd conversation ... this was a powerful individual speaking freely about sexually predatorial behavior...
It’s one of countless examples of how he has treated women his whole life...
5.37pm BST
Here now is Michelle Obama in Manchester, New Hampshire, speaking for Clinton:
5.32pm BST
The People editor has released a statement defending journalist Natasha Stoynoff, the author of Physically Attacked by Donald Trump – a PEOPLE Writer’s Own Harrowing Story:
Statement from Jess Cagle, Editor in Chief of PEOPLE (via @jdisis) pic.twitter.com/DQfPOCfaxv
5.19pm BST
Comments: we’ve now turned them on. Sorry for their having been off. And thanks very much to reader Alex C for pointing it out.
5.18pm BST
Reuters has analysed the donation records of tens of thousands of Trump employees and determined “only a dozen” donated more than $200:
Kerry Woolard, the 37-year-old manager of Trump Winery in Charlottesville, Virginia, went online in June and made her first political contribution: A $250 donation to the campaign of her boss, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Woolard’s donation was unusual.
4.57pm BST
Besweatered undecided Ken Bone is cashing in on his debate fame, per his Twitter feed:
Everyone wants to know if I've decided... and I have. uberSELECT helps you ride in style like me https://t.co/HyOS8z9SRd
4.54pm BST
This is strange? But campaigning presents many scheduling conflicts.
.@realDonaldTrump just canceled his interview with Sean Hannity, scheduled to air tonight, per @FoxNews executive.
On Thursday morning, he canceled on his friend Sean Hannity, a Fox News spokeswoman said. He had been scheduled to appear on Hannity’s Fox News show Thursday night. He backed out around 11:30 a.m. ET.
Hannity is still set to interview the four Clinton critics who appeared with Trump at a pre-debate photo op on Sunday: Kathy Shelton, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, and Juanita Broaddrick.
4.50pm BST
Donald Trump’s media pool reports that he’s en route to his midday West Palm Beach rally. Here’s a live video stream in case you want to watch the warmup acts, which sound terrible:
One of Trump's warm up acts just knocked Clinton for using private email "and blaming it on a black guy, Colin Powell?"
4.41pm BST
Only 46 days till the election!
The best of last night's late-night TV: Go out and vote on Nov. 28 https://t.co/6s69SayzBB pic.twitter.com/pBApCKCch7
4.36pm BST
Notice: An earlier block incorrectly attributed opposition to the 1990s Nato bombing of Serbian forces to Donald Trump, when in fact it was a Trump adviser who registered that view with a Serbian magazine, and not the candidate. The story was originally reported by Newsweek. The previous block in this blog has been updated.
The Trump campaign has not replied to a request for comment.
4.27pm BST
And here’s the latest Politics for Humans podcast, in which the Guardian’s Sabrina Siddiqui puts political topics in people terms:
NEW Politics for Humans: @FareedZakaria & Amb. Ronald Neumann join me to discuss the global view on this election https://t.co/Ror6vlsKOH
4.23pm BST
Here’s Barack Obama on when Dylan was awarded a medal of honor:
On Bob Dylan
by Barack Obama pic.twitter.com/o0lC4V5Bsv
4.12pm BST
A senior Trump adviser tells Bloomberg the campaign will soon bring forward new accusers: “Women are coming to us who have been groped or sexually abused by Bill Clinton.” Bloomberg reports:
Trump is considering featuring these women at campaign rallies to “give witness to what Hillary Clinton actually did.” ...
On Thursday night, the Trump campaign will begin a new media blitz, his advisers say, with Broaddrick, Willey, and Jones appearing together on a one-hour Fox News special hosted by Sean Hannity. Additional interviews will follow.
4.09pm BST
Here’s the latest edition of Anywhere but Washington, in which Paul Lewis explores the power of the Republican presidential nominee’s message in the poorest county of West Virginia:
4.04pm BST
Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh warned his listeners against the “rape police” on Wednesday, and mocked the concept of sexual consent.
Limbaugh said Trump’s critics on the left were being hypocritical:
Influential US radio host rants against consent in sex (ie, for rape). Watch out for "rape police" (ie, police) https://t.co/x5RMSkGPLu pic.twitter.com/zxF4TjwBl9
Someone should explain to Rush Limbaugh that "the rape police" are just, you know, the police. https://t.co/2EeTiKEMoq
4.00pm BST
NJ.com has further on the official misconduct complaint against Christie:
A judge in Bergen County ruled Thursday morning that there is enough probable cause for an official misconduct complaint against Gov. Chris Christie to move forward in connection with the governor’s alleged role in the Bridgegate scandal.
Bill Brennan, a retired Teaneck firefighter and citizen activist, filed the complaint against Christie. The September 2013 incident that became known as Bridgegate caused significant traffic issues over a four-day span in the Fort Lee area. The closures sparked a 16-month federal investigation.
3.42pm BST
One year ago today, the Guardian’s Ben Jacobs interviewed Trump about foreign policy.
Trump staked out the exact opposite position on the Kosovo intervention from the one his campaign advisor took in an interview revealed today. Ben wrote at the time:
The US needs to focus on fixing itself rather than on “nation-building” abroad,Donald Trump told the Guardian in an exclusive interview. The Republican presidential frontrunner then gave two examples of exceptions to his philosophy: in Kosovo in the 1990s, and in the conflict against Isis today. [...]
Asked about Bill Clinton’s support for intervention in Kosovo in order to prevent ethnic cleansing in the 1990s, however, Trump allowed: “It’s OK, sure.”
Related: The Donald Trump doctrine: 'Assad is bad' but US must stop 'nation-building'
3.31pm BST
Asked on Fox and Friends about the numerous new allegations against Donald Trump of unwanted touching, former presidential candidate and stalwart if unpredictable Trump defender Ben Carson says the story is “a bunch of crap” cooked up by the media:
There’s an atmosphere that’s been created by the New York Times and others that says look, if you’re willing to come out and say something, we’ll give you fame, we’ll give you whatever you need… what a bunch of crap. The people have to see through this because again the train is going off the cliff. Our country is going off the cliff financially and so many other ways. If we don’t deal with this stuff now, our children are completely going to be disadvantaged and destroyed, their future will be destroyed.”
3.26pm BST
Last month, a witness in a criminal case concerning the closure of traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge as an act of political retribution testified that New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s office had been informed of the plan, despite Christie’s denials of any knowledge of the plot.
Christie now faces a new inquiry for official misconduct in the incident:
URGENT BREAKING: NJ judge issues Probable Cause criminal summons vs. @GovChristie for official misconduct in office #Bridgegate @NBCNewYork pic.twitter.com/VuqJursEfx
3.22pm BST
Correction: Comments attributed to Trump in an earlier version of this block were not made by Trump but by Trump campaign senior adviser Suzanne Ryder Jaworowski, Newsweek reports.
Jaworowski told a Serbian magazine that the US participation in the 1995 and 1999 Nato bombing of Serbian forces was “a big mistake,” in comments originally attributed to Trump. Newsweek has the story.
Related: The Bosnian war baby still searching for answers, 20 years on
3.01pm BST
Michelle Obama will participate in a campaign organizing event in New Hampshire today for Hillary Clinton, who has a fundraiser in San Francisco. Bill Clinton has two Iowa stops on his schedule, and Chelsea Clinton has a Maine organizing event.
Donald Trump has a noon event scheduled in West Palm Beach, Florida, and an evening event in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Per pool note from @hollybdc, Trump is giving a surprise speech focused on millennials today in Columbus
2.51pm BST
#TBT
Donald was having a pool party at Mar-a-Lago. There were about 50 models and 30 men. There were girls in the pools, splashing around. For some reason Donald seemed a little smitten with me. He just started talking to me and nobody else.
He suddenly took me by the hand, and he started to show me around the mansion. He asked me if I had a swimsuit with me. I said no. I hadn’t intended to swim. He took me into a room and opened drawers and asked me to put on a swimsuit.
2.48pm BST
On the night of the second debate, as Trump staged a media event with three women who have accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault and rape, Trump’s campaign manager called for every survivor of sexual assault to be heard:
RT if you agree. "Every" the operative word here. https://t.co/hqvij2DPjA
2.42pm BST
Impeach Jeb Bush!
On Earth B, Jeb gaffes today by telling reporters in his daily gaggle that his favorite Dylan song is "The Weight." His lead slips to 4 pts.
2.37pm BST
Trump is swiping left and right at publications this morning carrying stories about him making unwanted physical contact with women.
To this New York Times story, Two Women Say Donald Trump Touched Them Inappropriately, Trump says:
The phony story in the failing @nytimes is a TOTAL FABRICATION. Written by same people as last discredited story on women. WATCH!
Why didn't the writer of the twelve year old article in People Magazine mention the "incident" in her story. Because it did not happen!
When we took a break for the then-very-pregnant Melania to go upstairs and change wardrobe for more photos, Donald wanted to show me around the mansion. There was one “tremendous” room in particular, he said, that I just had to see.
“I just start kissing them,” he said to Bush. “It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”
1.52pm BST
Hello and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the 2016 race for the White House. A wave of claims about Donald Trump’s alleged sexual transgressions and inappropriate behaviour – in one case involving comments about a young girl – has emerged, threatening the Republican presidential nominee’s already fragile campaign less than a month before election day.
Ever since video of the real estate mogul surfaced on Friday showing him bragging about how he could grab women’s genitals with impunity, more and more women have come forward to claim they were demeaned and touched inappropriately.
Related: Trump campaign rocked by new wave of sexual harassment allegations
Here it is: Trump campaign lawyer sends letter to @nytimes demanding "full and immediate retraction and apology" of article==> pic.twitter.com/yQpk5lgGOB
This isn't a lawsuit. This is what a lawyer writes to pretend to his client that's he's doing something beyond filing a suit that can't win. https://t.co/VaJCIxcHsv
Absolutely devastating. pic.twitter.com/n6Y6NOZvCe
Obama heads to Columbus on Thursday to be the featured speaker at an annual dinner benefiting Ohio Democrats and Gov. Ted Strickland, who is running to oust incumbent Republican Sen. Rob Portman. On Friday, Obama will hold a rally in Cleveland for Clinton emphasizing early voting, a major focus for Democrats across the U.S. this year.
Before flying to Ohio, Obama planned to speak in Pittsburgh at the “White House Frontiers Conference,” where aides said he’d announce new funding for technology and research and tout innovations like self-driving cars and artificial intelligence. Obama, in an op-ed in the magazine Wired, said the U.S. needed to adapt its skills to address emerging threats like antibiotic-resistant “superbugs,” cybersecurity and climate change.
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