TRUMP: 'I am a victim of one of the greatest political smear campaigns in the history of our country'
Donald Trump claimed he was "a victim of one of the great political smear campaigns in the history of our country" at a campaign rally Friday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"You're going to view your vote on November 8 to be the single most important vote that you've ever cast because we are going to take back the White House," Trump said.
The Republican presidential candidate has been on the offensive since battling accusations of sexual misconduct by several women following the release of a 2005 tape that showed Trump making lewd comments about women.
In an apparent effort to parry the allegations, the Manhattan mogul is now claiming "a global power structure" is conspiring with mainstream media to destroy his candidacy.
Trump on Friday attacked Carlos Slim, the world's second-richest man, who is also a New York Times stakeholder, for allegedly conspiring against his campaign. Slim dismissed the accusation.
Taking an almost apocalyptic tone at a rally Thursday, he suggested that the media and the banks in particular were working to elect the "Clinton machine" so they could stay in power and that they were behind the personal attacks lobbed against him in the past week.
The Anti-Defamation League described Trump's specific attacks on the media and the banks as "fascist code for 'Jews,'" The New York Times reported.
"For those who control the levers of power in Washington, and for the global special interests, they partner with these people that don't have your good in mind," Trump said. "Our campaign represents a true existential threat like they haven't seen before. This is not simply another four-year election. This is a crossroads in the history of our civilization that will determine whether or not we the people reclaim control over our government."
Trump's speeches have grown increasingly dark weeks ahead of the Nov. 8 election.
"We are now less than a month from the most election of our lifetime. Indeed one of the most important elections in the history of our country," he said at a rally Thursday.
Rebecca Harrington contributed reporting.