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Donald Trump Says Hillary Clinton Is A Bad Role Model For His 10-Year-Old Son

by Abby Norman

With just one week left before the 2016 election, the candidates are trying to get in their last minute jabs and fine-tuning their mud-slinging in hopes of convincing the American people that they, not their opponent, are fit to be America's next president. In the spirit of opponent-bashing, Republican nominee Donald Trump said Hillary Clinton is a bad role model for his 10-year-old son, Barron — a comment the candidate made without even the slightest hint of irony.

During a rally in Michigan on Monday, Trump told supporters that, in light of the once again ongoing investigation into Clinton's email server scandal, she is "a terrible example for my son and for the children in this country," going on to assert that she has continuously broken the law and is, in fact, a criminal, according to the Los Angeles Times This is not new rhetoric for Trump by any means, but citing the influence on his young son is a new spin on an old argument.

At the same rally in Michigan on Monday, Trump laid out a scenario he believed would ensue should Clinton be elected, according to the LA Times:

She would be under protracted criminal investigation and probably a criminal trial, I would say. So we'd have a criminal trial of a sitting president.

He supported this theory by citing the recent call from FBI Director James Comey to consider new evidence that could be relevant to the investigation into Clinton's emails. The evidence was discovered during an ongoing investigation into Anthony Wiener (ex-husband of top Clinton aid, Huma Abedin). Although, there has yet to be any proof that Clinton herself actually appears in the Wiener emails, according to The New York Times.

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Trump also quoted an op-ed by Doug Schoen that said if Clinton were to be elected, the country would find itself embroiled in a "constitutional crisis" because of the ongoing investigations of which she has become the center. The reinvigorated interest in the Clinton email scandal made a grateful man of Donald Trump, who only half-sarcastically thanked Abedin and Wiener at his rally in Michigan earlier this week, according to Politico:

Thank you, Huma. Do you think right now that Hillary Clinton is happy with the services of Huma? I don’t think so. I don’t think she likes Huma. And I never thought we’d be saying thank you to Anthony Weiner. Never thought. Thank you, Anthony. I never liked you, Anthony, I never liked you, but thank you very much.

The sentiment goes both ways: Clinton lobbed a similar criticism at Trump earlier this summer in the form of a rather scathing political ad made up purely of the most unsavory Trump quotes. Or at least, the most unsavory Trump quotes that existed at the time the ad was created: since then, a few more have emerged.

Although Trump has been vigorously focused on Clinton's email scandal, he hasn't exactly been free from scandal himself: just in the last few months of the campaign he's faced allegations of sexual assault (all of which he has denied), come under fire for refusing to release his income tax returns, and faced questions about his relationship to Russia. Not to mention decades-long scandals related to his business enterprise, which have included accusations of racial discrimination, controversies surrounding his money-making schemes like Trump University and questionable uses of his charity. Then there are his businesses' multiple bankruptcies, accusations of refusing to pay contractors and of using undocumented workers, and some others that can be read at The Atlantic.

Trump — and his campaign — continue to deny any of these things occurred, and of course it's all just part of the political game. Especially with the election just days away. But Trump's assertion that Clinton is a bad role model — in light of the front page controversies he's been involved in — certainly makes one wonder just what Trump's standards are for role models in the first place.