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Fiorina Says Clinton Wants Beatable Trump As Republican Presidential Nominee

Fiorina Says Clinton Wants Beatable Trump As Republican Presidential Nominee

By Ros Krasny, Bloomberg News (TNS)

WASHINGTON –– Republican Donald Trump is “a big Christmas gift wrapped up under the tree” for Hillary Clinton because he couldn’t beat the 2016 Democratic presidential front-runner in a general election, Carly Fiorina said Sunday.

“I am the lump of coal in Mrs. Clinton’s stocking,” Fiorina said on “Fox News Sunday.” “She can beat Donald Trump. Donald Trump can’t beat Hillary Clinton.”

Clinton desperately hopes she can run against Trump, Fiorina said, because “I will reveal to the American people again and again the ‘Clinton way.'”

Fiorina, 61, the only woman among major Republican candidates, criticized Clinton’ foreign policy strategy after Saturday’s debate between the three remaining Democratic presidential candidates.

“She’s gotten every single foreign policy challenge wrong, and no, Mrs. Clinton, we are not where we need to be,” Fiorina said, adding that the policies of Clinton and President Barack Obama amount to “leading from behind” and letting others set the agenda.

Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co., is running in seventh place in polls of likely voters in Iowa, which will hold its first-in-the-nation caucuses Feb. 1, and eighth in New Hampshire, which holds its primary Feb. 9.

(c)2015 Bloomberg News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina speaks at the Growth and Opportunity Party at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, October 31, 2015. REUTERS/Brian C. Frank

Trump Takes On Undocumented Immigrants, Saves Some Barbs For Bush In Phoenix

Trump Takes On Undocumented Immigrants, Saves Some Barbs For Bush In Phoenix

By Ros Krasny, Bloomberg News (TNS)

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Mexicans flow into the United States “like water” and “are killing us at the border,” making good on a vow that he won’t moderate his attacks on U.S. immigration policy.

Trump, a billionaire real estate mogul and reality television host, saved some barbs for President Barack Obama’s administration, fellow Republican candidate Jeb Bush, the media, and others during a rambling, hourlong speech at the Phoenix Convention Center.

“I love legal immigration,” Trump said. “Maybe we should make it easier and faster.” He added that Mexico is “pushing” people over the U.S. border and suggested charging the Mexican government $100,000 for every person who crosses.

When kicking off his campaign in June, Trump called Mexican immigrants “rapists” and said they’re bringing drugs and crime, earning rebukes from some Republicans. Businesses, including Univision, NBC, and Macy’s, have distanced themselves from him. Celebrity chefs have backed away from planned projects at Trump properties.

Still, Trump has ridden the notoriety to the top tier of a group of at least 14 Republicans vying to succeed Obama in the White House.

As he did earlier on Saturday during a speech in Las Vegas, Trump brought on stage Jamiel Shaw Sr., whose high school student son, Jamiel Jr., was killed in 2008 by an undocumented immigrant.

“I thought I would be the jobs candidate,” said Trump, saying he would be stronger than Obama or other Republican contenders at negotiating trade deals that prevent the United States from being “ripped” by governments such as China, and building the economy, including manufacturing. “We have to take care of everyone,” Trump added. “Get used to it, conservatives.”

Trump rapped Bush as indecisive. “Jeb Bush, let’s say he’s president. Oy, oy, oy.”
A Reuters-Ipsos poll published Saturday showed Trump and Bush in a near dead heat among Republicans.

Saturday’s campaign event was moved to the cavernous convention center in downtown Phoenix from a local hotel because of high demand for tickets. Thousands of flag-waving supporters carried signs saying “Truth Trumps All” and “Make America Great Again.”

Photo: People protest Donald Trump at a rally in Washington, D.C. on July 9, 2015. Elvert Barnes via Flickr