US Presidential Election: Trump to blame for GOP defections and sinking poll numbers - FURTHER UPDATES

New: Trump's Assassination Dog Whistle Was Even Scarier Than You Think

Republican nominee engaged in so-called stochastic terrorism with his remarks about "Second Amendment people" and Clinton. Read More

"What Trump just did is engage in so-called stochastic terrorism. This is an obscure and non-legal term that has been occasionally discussed in the academic world for the past decade and a half, and it applies with precision here. Stochastic terrorism, as described by a blogger who summarized the concept several years back, means using language and other forms of communication 'to incite random actors to carry out violent or terrorist acts that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable.'" David S. Cohen, Rolling Stone

New: US election: Anger over Donald Trump gun rights remarks

Speaking at a rally in North Carolina, Mr Trump hinted that gun rights advocates could stop her taking power.

That sparked an online backlash, many accusing him of inciting violence. Read More

"Once again, Donald Trump's off-the-cuff style of speaking during his rallies has set the presidential campaign ablaze.

The Republican nominee said that gun-rights advocates could "do something about" Mrs Clinton after she gets elected and tries to appoint judges. What could that be? His campaign's explanation that they would organise and vote simply doesn't track.

In a political environment where Trump supporters chant "lock her up", say Mrs Clinton should face a firing squad or worse, the Republican candidate's open-to-interpretation remarks likely throw gasoline onto a smouldering fire.

Americans often complain about the programmed nature of their politicians. Trump's faithful, in particular, deride polished candidates with their considered answers.

There's a reason why those seeking the presidency are exceedingly cautious about what they say. Every word is closely parsed, both in the US and around the world. A verbal misstep can be devastating.

Mr Trump ignores these rules. And as his poll numbers sink, he and his campaign are taking on a bunker mentality. The media are biased, the elections could be rigged, the polls are skewed, and Mrs Clinton is an unstable menace. It's Trump v the world.

And it's only August." Trump's bunker mentality - Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington

New: Trump in trouble over 'Second Amendment' remark

The campaign says he was referencing gun-rights voter mobilization, but the remark was widely interpreted as a joke about using guns against his Democratic rival. Read More

New: Trump’s loaded words fuel campaign freefall

Detouring off script again lands the GOP nominee in perilous territory. Read More

New: Take Two on Donald Trump's 'Second Amendment' Comments About Clinton

After an afternoon of controversial and suggestive comments left open to interpretation, Donald Trump gave his attack line about Hillary Clinton and the Second Amendment another go.

And this time he was a little more careful with his words. Read More

New: Donald Trump’s Minions Can’t Clean Up His Messes

Every time the GOP candidate screws up, his campaign marches out a parade of surrogates to try to make the problem disappear. But they often only make it worse. Read More

New: Donald Trump is like a real-life Manchurian candidate

With Republicans facing the growing prospect of a landslide defeat that could return control of the Senate and potentially the House to Democrats, 50 leading GOP national security figures announced on Monday that they refuse to vote for Donald Trump because they consider him a danger to American national security. Read More

New: Trump embraces fundraising, not transparency

The GOP nominee is closing the money gap with Clinton, but he won't name the bundlers helping him do it. Read More

First, Trump refuses to release his tax returns; now he is withholding the names of the sources from whom he is receiving money.

New: NAMBLA Becomes Donald Trump’s Birther Moment

Did Donald Trump donate money to the North American Man-Boy Love Association? A bot certainly wants you to think so. Read More

New: Ex-EPA heads under Republicans back Clinton

Two former administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency under Republican presidents endorsed Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, citing her plan to tackle climate change and Donald Trump's "profound ignorance of science." Read More

New: Former GOP EPA chiefs endorse Clinton

Two former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chiefs who served under Republican presidents are backing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the November election.Read More

New: Trump won't make America green again

Like his conservative views on defense, immigration and other issues, Mr. Trump threatens to reverse decades of carefully crafted environmental policy. As a Washington outsider and government critic, he shows no compunction about tearing up the environmental fabric that keeps our air and water clean, protects wildlife, reduces toxic wastes and improves quality of life. Clearly, making America great again does not include making America green again. Read More

New: Ryan crushes Trump-imitating primary foe

The speaker of the House shows that dislodging him on his own turf won't happen easily. Read More

New: Inside Clinton's GOP recruitment plan

The campaign is beginning to reap the rewards of a behind-the-scenes operation that was months in the making. Read More

From Trump’s controversial words, a pattern: outrage, headlines, and then denial

The pattern has repeated itself again and again. First come Trump’s attention-getting expressions. Then come the outraged reactions. The headlines follow. Finally, Trump, his aides and his supporters lash out at the media, accusing journalists of twisting his words or missing the joke. It happened last week, when Trump appeared to kick a baby out of a rally, then later insisted that he was kidding. It happened the week before, when he encouraged Russia to hack Clinton’s emails, then claimed he was just being sarcastic.

And with each new example, Trump’s rhetorical asides grow more alarming to many who hear them — and prompt condemnations from an ever-wider universe of critics. On Tuesday, for instance, even Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), one of Trump’s most ardent defenders, struggled to fully embrace his comments. Sessions insisted in an interview on CNN that Trump did not mean to encourage violence, but he acknowledged that Trump’s words were “awkwardly phrased.” Read More

"Trump’s rhetorical asides appear to be taking a toll among the electorate overall. Many voters find his remarks distasteful, even given his explanations. The possibility that he was joking or being sarcastic, or that he meant something other than what some people heard, doesn’t alter the growing view that Trump is reckless with his words.

Each day brings new polls showing the Republican nominee lagging Clinton nationally and in several key battleground states. The surveys show widespread uncertainty about whether Trump has the temperament to serve as president — a doubt that his ever-replenishing supply of rhetoric continues to feed."

"One common thread linking many of Trump’s more controversial moments is how many people hear or see something that he denies having said or done. Trump claimed never to have mocked a disabled New York Times reporter despite a widely disseminated video clip showing him making jerking movements with his arms. He claimed that he never said that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is not a war hero despite a prior Q&A in which he said just that.

He said he never discussed intervention in Libya, though he did.

Trump also relies regularly on the turn of phrase 'many people are saying' to make pronouncements without offering evidence backing them up." Isaac Stanley-Becker; Sean Sullivan, The Washington Post

7 times Trump was ‘misunderstood'

Donald Trump found himself at the center of controversy Tuesday with an offhand remark about stopping Hillary Clinton with the "Second Amendment."

Trump’s campaign insists he was simply predicting that the unified political power of gun rights advocates could be enough to stop Hillary Clinton from appointing liberal justices. But to much of the rest of the world, it sounded like he was talking about someone shooting Clinton, her nominees or both. Read More

Trump Suggests 'Second Amendment People' Could Stop Clinton, But What Did He Mean?

Donald Trump has been saying for months that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton wants to "abolish the Second Amendment," but now the Republican presidential nominee has gone even further.

At a rally in Wilmington, N.C., on Tuesday afternoon, Trump repeated that charge and then appeared to many observers to suggest taking up arms against his rival. Read More

Read the Full Transcript of Donald Trump’s ‘Second Amendment’ Speech

Donald Trump created a major controversy at a rally in Wilmington, N.C. on Tuesday when he suggested that gun rights activists take matters into their own hands when it comes to the possibility of Hillary Clinton getting to appoint judges if she is elected president. “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,” Trump said. “Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don’t know.”

The comment immediately drew criticism from those who saw it as instigating violence against the Democratic nominee or against future judicial appointees. Clinton immediately condemned the speech, and Trump’s campaign put out a statement saying the candidate was referring to the “power of unification” of voters turning out in support of Trump. Read More

Donald Trump Suggests Shooting Hillary Clinton, Her Supreme Court Picks, Or Both

“A person seeking to be the president of the United States should not suggest violence in any way,” the Clinton campaign responded. Read More

Carl Icahn: The 'Archie Bunkers of the world' will support Trump on the economy

Donald Trump is "right on" about the economy, Carl Icahn told CNBC on Tuesday, claiming the "Archie Bunkers of the world" will support the real estate tycoon after his pledges to cut taxes across the board. Read More

Icahn ‘Hopeful’ Trump Wins Presidency on Economic Stance

n a second interview later Tuesday on Fox Business, Icahn reiterated his support for Trump’s policies on reducing regulations. He said certain rules have “run amok” and are “absolutely killing business” by discouraging capital spending on machinery and factories, hurting productivity and competitiveness. Read More

RNC Hires Three New African American Outreach Strategists

With less than 90 says left to election day, the Republican National Committee has hired three experienced African American Republican operatives with years of experience to assist with African American vote strategy and outreach. Read More

RNC hires strategists to help woo African-American voters

The Republican National Committee is trying to strengthen its outreach to black voters by hiring a new national director of African-American engagement and bringing on new advisers and strategists to bolster its efforts to bring in more minority voters. Read More

Some ‘co-hosts’ disavow involvement in Trump fundraiser in Seattle

Some business executives listed as hosts of a scheduled Donald Trump fundraiser in Seattle are now disavowing involvement. Read More

LISTEN: GOP Sen. Susan Collins On Why She Can't Support Trump

Another prominent Republican is refusing to endorse Donald Trump as the GOP presidential nominee. Read More