PHILADELPHIA—Donald Trump went to the site of one of America’s most inspiring pieces of presidential oratory and read bitter grievances from a teleprompter.

In his own Gettysburg address, one his campaign had touted as a major policy speech, the faltering Republican presidential candidate veered from talk of term limits and trade deals to issue two startling vows: to launch a lawsuit against every woman who has accused him of sexual assault and to take action against the companies that own CNN, NBC and the Washington Post, media entities he has called unfair.

Abraham Lincoln’s Civil War speech in Gettysburg in 1863 is remembered for lines like “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.” The most memorable sentence in Trump’s speech: “All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”

“It was probably the (Democratic National Committee) and the Clinton campaign that put forwards these liars with their fabricated stories,” he said, without any evidence, of his accusers. “But we’ll find out about their involvement at a later date through litigation. And I look so forward to doing that.”

His threats offered yet another example of the darkness that has enveloped his campaign as Election Day approaches. With 17 days remaining and Democrat Hillary Clinton ahead by more than five points in national polls, Trump is spending precious time alleging implausible conspiracies, lashing out at his critics and threatening retribution.

His Pennsylvania discussion of media companies was more reminiscent of a diatribe from a foreign authoritarian than the bias-bashing typical of Republican politicians. He said he would try as president to reverse Comcast’s acquisition of NBC’s parent company, completed in 2013, because such deals “destroy democracy.”

“We’ll look at breaking that deal up and other deals like that. This should never, ever have been approved in the first place. They’re trying to poison the mind of the American voter,” he said in a ballroom about seven kilometres from the cemetery where Lincoln spoke.

His words came three days after he alarmed politicians, scholars and much of the public by refusing to guarantee at the third debate that he would accept the result of the election. While saying Saturday that he wanted the country to look to Lincoln’s example to “heal the divisions we are living through,” he again complained of a “rigged” election.

Erica Frantz, a Michigan State University political science professor who studies dictators, said his remarks reminded her of Venezuela’s late Hugo Chávez, who was democratically elected and then weakened democratic institutions like the press.

“In the years after his assumption to power, he began implementing media restrictions, which he justified by accusing the media of being excessively partisan. This is exactly the type of language Trump used in his speech today,” Frantz said.

Trump’s campaign has been in free-fall since he scrapped to a near-tie in the polls before the first of the three debates. He lost all three, and he has been besieged by the assault allegations and the controversy over the leaked 2005 video in which he claims that he has kissed and groped women without their consent.

An 11th accuser came forward Saturday afternoon. Jessica Drake, a performer in adult films, said he kissed her without permission in 2006. Trump has denied accusations of non-consensual kissing from other women, including former People and Toronto Star journalist Natasha Stoynoff.

His numerous lawsuit threats often do not turn into actual lawsuits. Veteran lawyers, though, immediately vowed to defend anyone Trump sued for speaking out.

The declared purpose of Trump’s speech was to announce a “contract with the American voter,” a set of commitments for his first 100 days in office, and he did get around to policy pledges.

Most of them, though, he had announced before: banning immigrants from “terror-prone regions,” seeking modifications to the North American Free Trade Agreement, rejecting the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, repealing Obamacare, banning election fundraising by foreign lobbyists.

The most notable policy statement was a curious change to his most famous existing platform plank: a giant wall on the border with Mexico, to be paid for by Mexico alone.

It is a staple of his raucous rallies: Trump asks who will be paying for the wall, the crowd bellows “Mexico!” On Saturday, for the first time, he said the wall would be built with American money — on the understanding that Mexico would provide reimbursement later.

Trump also pledged to authorize the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Alberta, and he did not mention any conditions. In the winter and spring, while boasting of his negotiating talents, he said he would require TransCanada Corp. to give the U.S. government as much as “25 per cent of the profits forever” in exchange for his approval.

Trump proceeded to a rally in Virginia Beach, where he drew another adoring crowd of thousands. Clinton was also in critical Pennsylvania, campaigning with running mate Tim Kaine in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

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Clinton said that after three debates, she “doesn’t even think about responding” to Trump anymore.

Speaking to reporters on her plane in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Clinton said that she was “going to let the American people decide what he offers and what we offer.”

She continued: “He can say whatever he wants to. He can run his campaign however he wants to. He can go off on tangents.”

Clinton said she’ll talk about what the next president should do and hopes voters make their choice based on that.

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