Trump attacks Clinton’s marriage, says she ‘should be in prison’

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump closed out a rough week for his campaign on Saturday, escalating personal attacks on Democrat Hillary Clinton, questioning her stamina and saying she should me imprisoned for her handling of classified emails.

Speaking to a crowd of nearly 5,000 in Pennsylvania on Saturday night, Trump made some of his wildest accusations yet about his opponent and the integrity of American elections, after warning of voter fraud in “certain areas”.

At the same time, the New York Times reported it had obtained records showing Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a deduction so large that it may have allowed him to avoid paying any federal income taxes for years.

Trump has refused to release his tax records, saying he is under a federal audit.

At a rally in Manheim, Pennsylvania, Trump said he did not believe Clinton, who suffered a bout of pneumonia last month, was up to the task of being president. He tried to resurrect a tactic he employed against former Republican rival Jeb Bush, who Trump had derided as “low energy.”

Clinton kept her pneumonia diagnosis private until she was seen nearly collapsing while getting into her vehicle at a ceremony marking the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York.

Ticking off a list of world problems, Trump said, “She's supposed to fight all of these things and she can’t make it 15 feet to her car. Give me a break.”

“Folks, we need stamina, we need energy, we need people who are going to turn deals around,” Trump said.

He said of her “she has bad temperament, she could actually be crazy” and went on to imply that she had been unfaithful for her husband. “I don’t even think she’s loyal to Bill, if you want to know the truth. And really folks, why should she be, right,” Trump said.

In 1998, Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, was caught up in a sex scandal involving former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

The Republican nominee whose rallies have long included loud chants of “lock her up” directed towards Clinton, said bluntly on Saturday “she should be in prison” over her use of a private email server as U.S. secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

Trump also warned of the specter of voter fraud without evidence, revisiting accusations he first made in August that there will be voter fraud in “certain areas” of Pennsylvania, a statement that was a clear dog-whistle about African American areas of Philadelphia.

“Watch your polling booths, because I hear too many stories about Pennsylvania, certain areas,” the Republican nominee told the almost exclusively white crowd in Manheim. He added “we can’t lose an election because you know what I am talking about”.

Trump was widely seen as having lost his first presidential debate with Clinton last Monday although he cites online polls showing he won.

The Republican nominee also complained about what he saw as a rigged debate and insisted that he actually bested Hillary Clinton in Monday night’s presidential debate. Trump insisted that he won the debate but also suggested that the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates deliberately gave him a defective microphone on purpose in an attempt to sabotage his performance.

While the Republican nominee was on stage, the New York Times reported that New York real estate developer may not have paid taxes for an 18-year period. The Times, which obtained a leaked copy of Trump’s 1995 returns, reported that the Republican nominee took a loss of $916m that year. The result of that loss was that Trump potentially could have avoided paying federal income taxes for nearly two decades afterwards. Trump is the first presidential nominee in decades who has not made his tax returns public.