COLUMBUS – The 18,500 people who greeted Hillary Clinton on the South Oval at Ohio State University Monday night was the largest so far for one of her campaign rallies, her campaign said.
Fresh off a strong debate performance, the Democratic presidential nominee aimed plenty of criticism at her Republican rival but also reminded Ohioans to register to vote by the end of the day Tuesday.
It was no accident that that message was delivered on a college campus as Clinton has struggled to tap into the numbers of enthusiastic young voters who supported President Barack Obama in his two campaigns and who backed her primary rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“In Ohio, you are really Ground Zero for the state that could very well make the difference in the presidential election and, among the voters in Ohio, young people may make the difference,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)
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Clinton called Trump an “equal opportunity insulter” and criticized him not paying income taxes, for selling products manufactured overseas and for using steel from China at building projects despite his “America First” campaign rhetoric.
“Trump’s suits and ties were made in Mexico and China. They could have been made right here in Ohio,” she said.
She hinted at a plan for tax reform she is expected to explain at greater length on Tuesday in Iowa.
“We’ve got to figure out how we have an economy that really does produce growth and rewards companies that do the right thing. And that for me means we need to have a tax system that rewards investment in our country, investment in workers, investment in plant and equipment, investment in research and development,” she said, vowing not to raise taxes on middle class families.
“Nobody who is working hard to get ahead should be asked to pay more in taxes when we have so many people who have done so well and are not paying their fair share. Now, Donald Trump is the poster child for this.”
On Tuesday, Clinton will announcing a plan Tuesday to double the Child Tax Credit and to increase the amount that low-income families could get back in refunds.
Clinton blasted Trump for vulgar comments about women recorded on a video released over the weekend and dismissed by Trump during their debate Sunday night as “locker-room talk.”
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“A lot of athletes and coaches from the NBA, from Major League Baseball, from the NFL and more, have been coming forward, tweeting, they’ve been saying, no, that’s not what happens in our locker rooms,” Clinton said.
She says it is a continuation of a pattern Trump has exhibited repeatedly during his campaign.
“Yes, he’s insulted and demeaned women; we’ve seen it over and over again,” she said. “But he has targeted others as well. He’s disrespected and denigrated African Americans and Latinos, Muslims and POWs, people with disabilities and immigrants. He is an equal-opportunity insulter if there ever was one.”