Trump tries to repurpose Clinton's attacks against her
[...] it illustrates the way that the newly redesigned Trump campaign has embraced the technique of projection, slapping attacks back on his opponent, whether they fit or not.
"What should these parents tell their children about Hillary Clinton's attacks?" Trump asked his audience in North Carolina.
He's accused her of being involved with Russia — despite his frequent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his own campaign's ties to the strongman.
Trump escalated his attacks, labelling Clinton as "a bigot who sees people of color only as votes, not as human beings worthy of a better future."
[...] Pastor Darrell Scott, the CEO of Trump's National Diversity Coalition, said Trump was pushing minority voters to re-think their assumptions about Clinton and the Democratic party by asking what they had to lose by voting for him.
The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, the president of the North Carolina NAACP and a Clinton supporter, said that if Trump really wanted to appeal to blacks, he would be embracing policies like strengthening the Voting Rights Act and supporting criminal justice reform, not attacking Clinton.
"[...] what he wants to do is project onto Hillary Clinton what his own policies project onto him, attempt to deflect, and then insult the entire African-American community by suggesting that we have allowed a party to take advantage of us," Barber said of Trump.
Republican strategist Rick Tyler, who advised Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in his presidential bid, said projection can be effective — but Trump would be better served focusing on Clinton's clearer vulnerabilities, including perceptions that she isn't trustworthy.
