BRIARCLIFF MANOR, N.Y. (AP) – Donald Trump labored to convince fellow Republicans that he can broaden his appeal and move beyond controversy, tamping down his caustic attacks and divisive remarks in a noticeably muted speech after his final presidential primary wins.
“I understand the responsibility of carrying the mantle” of the Republican Party, Trump said Tuesday night, reading from a teleprompter to supporters gathered at one of his golf courses. “I will never, ever let you down.” He added: “I will make you proud of our party and our movement.”
Trump’s pitch came on one of the toughest days of his unpredictable campaign, as top Republican leaders and donors denounced as racist and troubling his comments about a federal judge’s ethnicity.
And it came as Democrat Hillary Clinton, at a rally in Brooklyn, claimed her place as the country’s first major party female presidential nominee by quickly invoking Trump as a contrast. “This election is about who we are as a nation. It’s about millions of Americans coming together to say, ‘We are better than this.'”
While Trump sought to portray himself as a unifier during his evening speech – drawing plaudits from Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus for taking “exactly the right approach” – hours earlier he continued to be strikingly defiant.