Trump hints Clinton was drugged in last debate

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has hinted that his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, took drugs before their second debate last week and asked that the two of them be tested before their third and final debate.

"Athletes, they make them take a drug test. We should take a drug test prior to the debate because I don't know what's going on with her," Trump said on Saturday at a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

"At the beginning of her last debate (October 9 in St. Louis, Missouri), she was all pumped up at the beginning. And at the end...she could barely reach her car," he said, adding that he was "willing" to undergo drug testing before their next debate on October 19 in Las Vegas.

The Republican candidate, who has stoked a number of rumours about Clinton's health and stamina in recent months, criticised his rival for not programming a campaign event for this Saturday, and claimed she is not prepping for their next debate but instead is resting up for the debate even though it's still five days away.

"I said forget debate prep. I mean, give me a break. Do you really think that Hillary Clinton is debate-prepping for three or four days? Hillary Clinton is resting, OK?" the magnate said.

His campaign had said that when the Federal Bureau of Investigation was probing her handling of e-mails when she was secretary of state, "she said 39 times she couldn't remember anything", and maybe that was why she has to prep so much for the debate - she has a bad memory.

The magnate has stepped up his attacks not only against Clinton but also against several Republican leaders for failing to support him and against the media following the release of a 2005 video in which he is heard making sexist remarks, after which a number of woman came forward to accuse Trump of sexually abusing them some years ago.

"The election is being rigged by corrupt media pushing completely false allegations and outright lies in an effort to elect her president," Trump said with reference to Clinton.

But the Republican candidate vowed to defeat the "rigged" system, while also denying all the accusations of sexual harassment made over the last week by half a dozen women.

--IANS

ksk