David Smith chronicles another busy week in a bizarre election year: Biden and Trump reveal bare knuckles and Ruth Bader Ginsburg may be asked to step down

Journalist Maureen Dowd memorably described the choice at the 2016 US election as “the king of winging it versus the queen of homework”. So no surprise if the king of winging it had a little help. Sixteen months into his campaign, he rolled out a new slogan, “Drain the swamp” – referring to Washington. Soon enough #DrainTheSwamp was trending on Twitter.

But evidently this wasn’t Trump’s own idea. As a crowd chanted “Drain the swamp” at a rally in Geneva, Ohio, on Thursday, the Republican candidate admitted: “You know, I didn’t like the expression – I started it what, a week ago, right? ‘Drain the swamp’ and I said, I don’t like it, and the people were going crazy, they loved it. All of a sudden, I like it.”

Cue a mystifying simile that only Trump could come up with. “It’s like Frank Sinatra, who was a special guy, a difficult guy, but he had songs he didn’t like but they became his biggest songs so he liked them,” he continued. “And drain the swamp, I’m starting to like it a lot, do you agree? It’s very reflective of what we’re trying to do.”

Trump added with glee: “So cute. I see this young boy here and he’s screaming ‘Drain the swamp!’ He’s this big. How cute. He’s learning young, learning young about our government. Very cute.”

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What a gift for Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of Hamilton, the Broadway blockbuster that culminates in a duel between sitting vice-president Aaron Burr and former treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton. Sitting vice-president Joe Biden this week more or less challenged Trump to a duel, not with pistols at dawn but bare knuckles behind the school gymnasium.

“I’ll get myself in trouble,” Biden said. “I’d like to take him behind the gym if I were in high school. All kidding aside, wouldn’t you?”

Trump has fired back at several rallies. In Florida he said: “I’d love that! Mr Tough Guy. You know, he’s Mr Tough Guy. You know when he’s Mr Tough Guy? When he’s standing behind a microphone by himself – that’s when.” And in Ohio he said: “You know what you do with Biden? You go like this.” He turned to one side and blew a puff of air from his mouth. “And he’d fall over.”

Jake Tapper, CNN’s chief Washington correspondent, tweeted: “I’m trying to envision something more fitting than this election actually ending in a Biden-Trump fist fight and I cannot.”

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From a well connected Washington crystal ball gazer: Hillary Clinton will win the election. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 83, who fell asleep at the State of the Union address (she admitted she was not entirely sober) and has given more than one regrettable interview of late, will be gently asked to step down from the supreme court. Arch liberal senator Elizabeth Warren will be lined up to replace her. And the late conservative justice Antonin Scalia will spin like a Catherine wheel in the grave.

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Clinton’s 69th birthday on Wednesday included a cake from staff and a rendition of Happy Birthday from Stevie Wonder. She will, if elected, be the second oldest person in history to assume the presidency, just behind Ronald Reagan. Trump is even older at 70. In Africa, however, they would all be mere babes in the woods. Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is 92, Paul Biya of Cameroon is 83, Jacob Zuma of South Africa is 74, Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria is 73 and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda is 72.

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Trump is a man of hidden shallows. Future historians will pore over the choice of warm-up music at his rallies, including Pavarotti’s version of Nessun Dorma (None Shall Sleep) and the Rolling Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want – a lyric that takes on added poignancy with every poll.

It also emerged this week that one of the tycoon’s favourite songs is Is That All There Is?, a hit for Peggy Lee in the 60s. Trump told a biographer: “It’s a great song because I’ve had these tremendous successes and then I’m off to the next one. Because, it’s like, ‘Oh, is that all there is?’”

The song may be even more apt come the night of 8 November when Trump counts how many states are in his margin. Clinton, meanwhile, will hold her election night party at New York’s Javits Center, which has a glass ceiling. Get it?

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Mother Jones magazine records: “Even the death of a child couldn’t keep Donald Trump from talking about hitting on the boy’s mother.”

The episode dates from 2009 when Trump wrote a blogpost devoted to Kelly Preston four days after Jett, her 16-year-old son with John Travolta, died from a seizure during a family holiday. The billionaire offered condolences but could not resist mentioning something else: “A long time ago, before I was married, I met Kelly Preston at a club and worked like hell to try and pick her up. She was beautiful, personable, and definitely had allure. At the time I had no idea she was married to John Travolta.”

There was more: “In any event, my track record on this subject has always been outstanding, but Kelly wouldn’t give me the time of day. She was very nice, very elegant, but I didn’t have a chance with her, and that was that.”

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Tweet





John Gludovatz (@johngludovatz) Tens of supporters attend Tim Kaine rally in West Palm Beach, FL. pic.twitter.com/1Sk5cGbDw2

Zinger

“He thinks because he has a mouthful of Tic-Tacs that he can force himself on any woman within groping distance. Well, I’ve got news for you, Donald Trump. Women have had it with guys like you. And nasty women have really had it with guys like you. Yeah. Get this, Donald ... on November 8, we nasty women are gonna march our nasty feet to cast our nasty votes to get you out of our lives forever.”

– Senator Elizabeth Warren

Gaffe

“You want to go back through the tapes of your show recently? You are fascinated with sex and you don’t care about public policy.”

– Former speaker Newt Gingrich to Fox News host Megyn Kelly. The next day, Trump told Gingrich: “Congratulations, Newt, on last night, that was an amazing interview. We don’t play games, Newt, right?”

Number

404. Rate in dollars of a basic room at the Trump International hotel, formally opened by the candidate and his family this week. This is half the price it was a month ago.