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Trump says he'll sue women who said he sexually assaulted them

 
Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump acknowledges supporters after holding an event at the Eisenhower Hotel and Conference Center Saturdayin Gettysburg, Pa.  Trump delivered a policy speech announcing his plans for his first 100 days in office. [Mark Makela | Getty Images]
Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump acknowledges supporters after holding an event at the Eisenhower Hotel and Conference Center Saturdayin Gettysburg, Pa. Trump delivered a policy speech announcing his plans for his first 100 days in office. [Mark Makela | Getty Images]
Published Oct. 22, 2016

GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Donald Trump launched another attempt to fix his floundering campaign Saturday, delivering a speech billed as a closing argument in a hotel ballroom near the battlefield that turned the direction of the Civil War.

Yet, even as Trump praised Abraham Lincoln for uniting the country, Trump laced his Gettysburg speech with familiar charges of a rigged election and corrupt media, and a new promise to sue 10 women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.

"All of these liars will be sued when the election is over," Trump said to a small audience at the Eisenhower Hotel.

Trump's aides previewed the speech as a policy address that would highlight his first 100 days in office. But almost all of the promises had been made before in other speeches and press releases.

They include steep tax reductions, a border wall with Mexico, a constitutional amendment limiting terms for members of Congress and the cancellation of billions of dollars in contributions to United Nations climate-change programs. He added new details to a recent proposal to impose mandatory minimum criminal sentences for immigrants who return to the U.S. illegally after they have been deported, and a promise to freeze most federal government hiring.

Trump gave a similar speech in June, during another low point in his campaign, making eight promises for his first 100 days in office. Among them: appointing conservative judges, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, and lifting restrictions on energy production.

Saturday, Trump tried to frame the closing argument in the choice between him and Hillary Clinton as a battle between the establishment and the working class.

"Hillary Clinton is not running against me," Trump said. "She's running against change and she's running against all of the American people and all of the American voters."

Trump has accused the news media repeatedly this week of ignoring three recent national polls that show him ahead of Clinton — including a Los Angeles Times poll that showed him leading by a fraction of a percentage point as of Saturday. Most national polls, and those from key battleground states, show Trump behind significantly.

Trump has vacillated in recent days between bravado and tentative talk about confronting the possibility of losing the election.

©2016 Tribune Co.