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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Trump Proposes Congressional Term Limits

COLORADO SPRINGS (CN) — At a Colorado Springs rally the day before the final presidential candidates' debate, Donald Trump proposed term limits in Congress, promised to crack down on lobbyists, and predicted he would "get a very big African American vote; we're gonna get a very big Latino vote."

Trump addressed an energetic crowd of supporters at the Norris Penrose Equestrian Center early Tuesday afternoon, and urged them to vote.

"If we let Crooked Hillary's cartel ... run this government, history will record that 2017 was the year that America truly lost its independence," Trump said.

"This is our final shot, folks. In four years it's over. This is your final shot for the Supreme Court, the Second Amendment. Hopefully you'll do what you know you have to do. Get out of bed and vote.

"It is indeed time to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C."

Trump said his three-part ethics reform would limit congressional terms, ban "executive branch officials" from working as lobbyist for five years after they leave government, and expand the definition of lobbyists to "close all the loopholes that former government officials use by labeling themselves as consultants, advisers."

"We all know that really what they are, is lobbyists," Trump said.

He reprised his appeal to minority voters, saying: "To those African Americans suffering, to those Latinos suffering, I say: What do you have to lose? Elect Donald Trump. I will fix it. We will fix it.

"We're gonna get a very big African-American vote; we're gonna get a very big Latino vote."

A Franklin Pierce University/Boston Herald Poll taken in September reported that 35 percent of Latinos and 24 percent of African-Americans favored Trump in the election — higher numbers, particularly for black voters, than have been reported in other polls.

Trump supporters at the rally were not inclined to speak to a reporter.

Protesters outside the rally were more willing.

Elliot Fladen stood outside the livestock grounds with his wife and daughter, holding anti-Trump signs and waving at cars entering the arena.

"There's a lot of people here who as they drive by they've honked in support," Fladen said. "There are others that have seen my wife's sign, saying she's from Mexico, and say, 'Go back to Mexico! Get out of my country!' They sort of blend together."

Fladen's 5-year-old daughter held a sign: "My grandparents are Mexican, I can be a judge when I grow up," a reference to Trump's comment that a federal judge presiding over a class action lawsuit against Trump University cannot be fair to him because of the U.S.-born judge's "Mexican heritage."

Fladen said his family is "very very alarmed at the way Donald Trump wants to treat the Constitution in this country."

A few third-party protesters stood in line to get into the venue. Jim Dealy, wearing a T-shirt supporting Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, said he wanted to give people a last-minute reminder of their options.

"We try to have decent discussions," Dealy said. "I respect everybody's right to vote. I'm just trying to get the word out here. Maybe there's somebody who hasn't made up their mind yet."

Dealy's friend Mike Zengerle stood beside him, with a "Dump Trump" sign.

"If you don't want Gary, anything but Trump," Zengerle said. "I hate his demeanor, everything about him. I think he has a black heart."

Before Trump concluded the rally to fly to Grand Junction for another event, he told the crowd, "We will make America wealthy again. We will make America strong again. We will make America safe again. And we will make America great again. November 8th - go out and vote."

The final debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton begins at 9 p.m., Eastern Time.

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