2012 Benghazi attack
As the October 19 debate approached, Trump questioned the fairness of the election process, the legitimacy of opinion polls, and asked supporters to "forget the press, read the internet." To the final debate, he invited President Obama's half-brother Malik Obama, who had endorsed Trump, as well as Patricia Smith, mother of diplomat Sean Smith who died in the 
. She had previously spoken at the Republican National Convention. Clinton invited businesswoman Meg Whitman, billionaire Mark Cuban, and former basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, all of whom had endorsed Clinton. The third and final debate took place in Las Vegas and was moderated by Fox News host Chris Wallace. As in the second debate, there was no handshake between the candidates before. Unlike the second, there was no handshake afterward. During the debate, Trump stated he would appoint pro-life justices to the Supreme Court and that the likely result would be the overturning of "Roe v. Wade". Clinton countered she would nominate justices to uphold "Roe". Trump received criticism for referring to illegal immigrants as "bad "hombres"." After Trump spoke about having a closer relationship with Russia, Clinton implied Trump was a "puppet" of Russian President Vladimir Putin to which Trump repeatedly interrupted, "No. You're the puppet!" Trump referred to the Clinton Foundation as a "criminal enterprise" and accused Clinton of encouraging violence at his rallies based on the Project Veritas video. His most controversial comments came when he refused to say whether he would accept the results of the election and near the close of the debate when he interrupted Clinton to refer to her as "such a nasty woman." The "nasty woman" comment became a rallying call for Clinton supporters with Senator Elizabeth Warren later commenting, "We nasty women are going to march our nasty feet to cast our nasty votes to get [Trump] out of our lives forever". According to CNN's poll, Clinton won the debate 52% to 39%. However, according to CNN's 15 member focus group, Trump won 10 to 5. Frank Luntz's focus group likewise showed Trump winning, by a margin of 14 to 12. A day after the debate, Trump held a rally and announced "I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election — if I win." He and Clinton both attended the traditional Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner with Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan seated between them. Although the event was meant to feature lighthearted and often self-deprecating statements from the candidates, Trump received boos when the crowd felt he was too harsh on Clinton. Nevertheless, Clinton and Trump shook hands at the conclusion. Back on the campaign trail, Trump began using the phrase "Drain the Swamp" to describe the defeat of the establishment in Washington, D.C. In an October 22 speech in Gettysburg, he laid out a plan for the first 100 days of his administration and unveiled a "Contract for the American Voter," which included such policy proposals as a Constitutional amendment to impose term limits on Congress, a federal employee hiring freeze, and a ban on fundraising by foreign lobbyists in US elections. He received his first major newspaper endorsement from the "Las Vegas Review-Journal", owned by billionaire Trump supporter Sheldon Adelson. For the Clinton campaign, surrogates such as First Lady Michelle Obama, President Obama, and Bernie Sanders traveled about to spread the campaign's message; entertainers such as Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and Jennifer Lopez also played a role. As most opinion polls continued to show Clinton ahead of Trump, Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway admitted the campaign was behind and that Clinton "has tremendous advantages." Meanwhile, Trump began arguing Democrats were creating "phony polls" to suppress the turnout of his supporters. He also argued the media was ignoring polls such as those from Rasmussen Reports and the "Los Angeles Times", which regularly showed him tied or slightly ahead of Clinton. Still, he acknowledged, "I guess I’m somewhat behind in the polls, but not by much." As October drew to a close, three additional surprises threatened to change the course of the election. First, Obamacare rates were announced to be rising significantly for 2017 throughout the nation; over 50% in some states and by an average of 25% nationally. One in five users would have only one plan from which to choose. Second, more revelations from "WikiLeaks" including a release showing how an adviser used President Bill Clinton's status, what he referred to as "Bill Clinton, Inc.," to secure donations to the Clinton Foundation from certain corporations as well as speaking fees, traveling expenses, and vacations in exchange for access, leading to accusations of pay-to-play. Third, FBI director James Comey wrote a letter to certain Congressional committee chairs stating the FBI discovered new evidence and was re-opening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's e-mail server. According to reports, the relevant e-mails were discovered on a device of former Congressman Anthony Weiner, who was under investigation for sexting with an under-aged girl. Weiner allegedly shared the device with his wife Huma Abedin, a top aide to Clinton. The Clinton campaign demanded to see the evidence. Senator Harry Reid argued Comey's letter may have violated the Hatch Act and accused the FBI of not releasing information about connections between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Commenting on the matter, Trump said, "Clinton’s corruption on a scale we have never seen before. We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office." Clinton said, "No matter what they throw at us these last few days, we're not going to back down." In the RealClearPolitics average for October 31, Clinton led Trump 48.0% to 44.9% in the head-to-head matchup, but her lead dwindled in the four-way race, 45.6% to 42.7% with Johnson at 4.7% and Stein at 2.1%.
On the campaign trail in the USA, October 2016