Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE ripped Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Democratic super PAC to hit Trump in battleground states over coronavirus deaths Battle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight MORE for playing the race card on Thursday, calling her a bully seeking to distract voters from her own controversies by accusing others of racism.

“She lies, she smears, she paints decent Americans as racists,” Trump said at a rally in New Hampshire on Thursday. “She bullies voters, who only want a better future and tries to intimidate them out of voting for change.”

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Trump’s remarks were a pre-emptive attack on a speech Clinton delivered Thursday afternoon that linked Trump to white supremacist groups. Clinton in a tweet on Thursday highlighted members of the Ku Klux Klan complimenting Trump.

The attacks from Clinton follow Trump’s decision to make Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon his campaign CEO. Breitbart is considered a part of the conservative “alt-right” movement that Clinton criticized in her speech.

The two presidential contenders are in a pitched battle over race that appears to be aimed at both minority voters and white voters who might be reluctant to support a candidate viewed as sympathetic to white nationalism.

The GOP nominee said it is clear Clinton is purposely trying to change the subject from questions about Clinton Foundation donors' access to the State Department when she was in charge there.

“Now, as all of these revelations have been discovered this week, Hillary Clinton has been hiding,” Trump said. “But she’s emerging not to take responsibly for her unethical and criminal conduct, but instead to make one of the most brazen attempts at distraction in the history of politics.

“The news reports are that Hillary Clinton is going to try to accuse this campaign, and all of you and the millions of decent Americans at record levels ... and going to accuse decent Americans who support this campaign, of being racists,” he continued. “It’s the oldest play in the Democratic playbook.

“When Democratic policies fail, they are left with only this one tired argument. It’s a tired, disgusting argument, and it’s so totally predictable, and they’re failing so badly."

In recent days, Trump has been stepping up his outreach to African-American and Latino voters. During a rally in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday afternoon, he vowed to protect jobs and wages for Latinos.

“This is the year that the people who have been betrayed by Democratic policies, including millions of African-American and Hispanic-American citizens, reject the politicians who have failed them and vote for change,” Trump said on Thursday.

“As I’ve discussed for many days now, Democratic politicians have run nearly every inner city in America for 50 or 60 years, or 75 years,” he said. “Their policies have produced only more poverty, joblessness and failing schools.”