US election 2016 daily briefing: Fox News stars in feud over Trump
- Published
Fox News anchor Sean Hannity (right) accused his colleague Megyn Kelly of being in league with Hillary Clinton
With just 32 days to go until Americans choose a new president, we're bringing you all the latest campaign news, including an unseemly spat between two Fox anchors, a timely ad buy from the Clinton campaign, and who Brits are rooting for in this US election.
Fox's fight night
Two of the conservative news channel's biggest stars have turned their sharp tongues on one another after Sean Hannity accused Megyn Kelly of being in league with Hillary Clinton.
The clash began when Kelly said on her Wednesday night programme that both Mrs Clinton and Donald Trump avoid tough media interviews. She said the Republican nominee "will go on Hannity and pretty much only Hannity".
Hannity - a vocal supporter of Trump - fired back on Twitter, writing: "u should be mad at @HillaryClinton Clearly you support her. And @realDonaldTrump did talk to u."
Another Twitter user chided Hannity, urging him to stand by his colleagues, but the host replied: "Sure. When they stand by me."
Ouch!
What just happened?
Pundits lined up on Wednesday to declare Mike Pence the winner of a debate many other pundits said doesn't matter anyway. But where Tim Kaine failed to land a punch, Latino scholars had more success. Some roundly criticised the Indiana governor for referring during the debate to "that Mexican thing" (Donald Trump's infamous attack on immigrants from that country). Meanwhile, Trump, with tongue firmly in cheek, suggested the terminally ill should cast their vote for him.
Trump courts the terminally ill vote
The BBC take - Anthony Zurcher, Washington
Wednesday was a day the Trump team could enjoy, as it was the first in more than a week where they weren't being consumed by fires of their own making. Instead they could bask in the afterglow of a strong debate performance by Pence, which has given them a brief respite ahead of Sunday's big showdown.
Follow @awzurcher, external on Twitter
What's about to happen?
Bernie Sanders will appear at four rallies on Thursday in the key state of Michigan, to bang the drum for his former rival, Hillary Clinton. Her daughter Chelsea is campaigning in Minnesota. Mike Pence is stumping in Pennsylvania and Tim Kaine in Nevada. But both Clinton herself, and Donald Trump, have no appearances booked yet, so they could be swotting up for the debate.
Every cloud...
Hurricane Matthew satellite image
As Hurricane Matthew bears down on Florida, the Clinton campaign has been buying up airtime in the swing state on The Weather Channel. Her camp spent $63,000 to reach the popular channel's viewers there for five days beginning on Thursday, Politico reported on Thursday.
However, the Clinton campaign has now issued a statement saying that they will "delay" all Florida ads until after Hurricane Matthew has passed.
"Earlier in the week we made changes to our TV ad reservations across hundreds of stations in several battleground states including Florida. Less than 1% of those changes included the Weather Channel. We have requested that stations in Florida delay any of those ads on the Weather Channel until after the storm passes," campaign spokesman Jesse Ferguson said.
Who do Brits back?
The BBC asked Conservatives at their annual party conference in Birmingham (that's in the West Midlands, not Alabama) whom they would back.
Some clues from these random quotes:
"As someone who shares the same hairdresser as Donald..."
"It's like the Iran-Iraq War, you want them both to lose..."
"It's a kick in the face or a kick in the crotch..."
"Just so I can see the president of North Korean's face..."
Watch and find out:
The Daily Politics mood box gets the views of Tories about the US presidential election.
Picture of the day
Voters in Nevada wear their hearts on their... socks?
Random stat - 37 million
The number of viewers who watched Mike Pence and Tim Kaine slug it out on Tuesday night. That's less than half the number who tuned in to see the top-of-the-ticket clash a week ago. And it's well down on the 50m who watched Paul Ryan and Joe Biden in 2012.
Quote of the day
'No jobs here any more'
This week Bill Clinton has been in the state of Ohio trying to drum up support for his wife's campaign.
But in Cleveland, where factory closures have brought economic despair, Chris Brown tells the BBC that for for black Americans, this election is all about voting for the worst candidate.
"I don't see relief in sight, I just see it getting worse and worse," he says.
US Election 2016: Black voters in Ohio voice frustration
The state of the race
48%
Hillary Clinton
44%
Donald Trump