US election daily dig: Are Halloween masks a spooky prediction?
- Published
The FBI inquiry into Hillary Clinton's email use may have dominated the headlines this weekend, but there have also been secret meetings, Twitter spats and spooky predictions.
The latest
Donald Trump hasn't made a secret of his dislike of Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, with the duo having had numerous public clashes, so it was a surprise to find out his daughter, Ivanka Trump, was spotted having breakfast with the broadcaster at the Four Seasons hotel in New York. Not only that, but they talked for two hours, according to Politico Playbook, external. Talking of surprises, October typically has lots of them, so we've looked at whether they ever swing a US election.
Meanwhile, Trump Halloween masks are flying out of the shops, outselling Clinton masks by 55% to 45%, according to the Spirit Halloween costume chain. The top reason why Americans choose a Trump mask is to be funny, while Clinton is typically chosen because people like her, their survey says.
Interestingly, the store's best-selling Halloween mask has correctly forecast the outcome of every presidential election since 1996, according to NBC., external
In other news, not content with blaming the media and the "Clinton machine" for "rigging the election," Mr Trump has now directed his anger at social media, lashing out at Facebook, Twitter and Google for "burying the FBI criminal investigation of Clinton".
But as Mashable points out, external, a quick glance at Google News on Sunday showed the FBI investigation was the top result, both #Election2016 and the Clinton were at the top of Twitter's "featured tweets" section and it's hard to track what's trending on Facebook because it's personalised, so it's not entirely clear what the Republican candidate believes has been buried.
Meanwhile, proving that Donald Trump isn't the only candidate that can go on a twitter rant, independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin unleashed a Twitterstorm at Mr Trump after his rival called him the "puppet of a loser" on Fox News.
Channelling a bit of Mrs Clinton - who drew comparisons in the presidential debates between her 30 years of public service with Mr Trump's bid for stardom on the Apprentice - the former CIA officer attacked Mr Trump: "Yes you've never heard of me because while you were harassing women at beauty pageants, I was fighting terrorists abroad."
But it wasn't just Mr Trump that was the subject of his wrath. He also threw some punches at Mrs Clinton.
Finally remember the story about Mr Trump's tax returns at the beginning of the month? It seems they definitely won't be made public before the election, external, meaning he will be the first presidential nominee since Gerald Ford, in the 1970s, to not release his tax returns during the campaign.
And if you are confused about how two such such unpopular candidates rose to the top of their parties, watch our video explainer below.
How did we end up with two such unpopular candidates?
Random stat
66%
The number of likely voters who are Republicans or lean that way that disapprove of House Speaker Paul Ryan's decision not to campaign for Donald Trump, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, external.
Picture of the weekend
Hillary Clinton took some time out from a weekend dominated by the new FBI inquiry to join pop star Jennifer Lopez at a Get Out The Vote concert in Miami on Saturday
Quote of the weekend
Monday's diary
Hillary Clinton is off to Ohio for two campaign events in Cleveland and Cincinnati. It's a key battleground state and the Real Clear Politics polling average, external currently has her rival ahead 45% to 44%. Her running mate Tim Kaine is holding events in North Carolina.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump will be campaigning in Michigan, holding rallies in Grand Rapids and Warren.
Predict the president
