Clinton, Trump trade barbs ahead of her Raleigh visit
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Presidential politics are about to put the Triangle in the Vote 2016 spotlight.
Hillary Clinton is scheduled to hold a campaign rally in Raleigh on Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the state's Republican Party is preparing its welcome.
Tuesday on the campaign trail, Clinton and Donald Trump were busy throwing punches.
"Hillary Clinton doesn't know what she's doing," Trump told David Muir in an ABC News exclusive interview.
In Columbus, Ohio, Clinton railed against Trump's economic proposals. "Trump would take us back to where we were before the crisis," Clinton said.
With just weeks before the party conventions, Trump and Clinton are neck and neck in the polls among North Carolina voters. Trump's average lead here is just one point.
Tuesday night in Raleigh, hours before Clinton arrives for her first Triangle rally since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, Jewish activists rallied in Nash Square. They blasted Trump for what they called his "politics of hate." They held signs that read, #WeveSeenThisBefore.
"We have seen the consequences of public hatred of minorities (before)," said Max Socol, national organizer for Bend the Arc Jewish Action. "I was at the Trump rally in Greensboro a week ago today. He spent most of his speech comparing all immigrants to snakes. I'd say that's stoking hatred."
Meantime the NC GOP zeroed in on Clinton as she gets set to arrive.
"Hillary Clinton will be eight more years of President Obama's failed economic policies," said Kami Mueller, NCGOP communications director.
Mueller tied the ongoing probe into Clinton's State Department emails to politics here at home.
"I think the question we should all be asking, is Roy Cooper as the chief law enforcement officer of the state of North Carolina still going to stand by Hillary Clinton tomorrow when she visits North Carolina even despite the ongoing federal investigation," Mueller said.
State Republicans see Clinton as a liability for Cooper in his quest defeat Gov. Pat McCrory.
It's unclear whether Cooper and Clinton will appear together at Clinton's rally, Wednesday, at the NC State Fairgrounds.
When asked if McCrory had any plans to campaign with Trump in the state between now and November, Mueller responded, "Not sure."
