Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump called himself the "law and order candidate" and ripped Democratic rival Hillary Clinton as deceitful and incompetent during remarks in Virginia on Monday.
Trump praised the police at the outset of his speech in Virginia Beach in response to the mass shooting in Dallas, Texas, that killed five policemen last week. Trump said he would fight to make sure every American citizen had a safe home and safe community.
"We must maintain law and order at the highest level, or we will cease to have a country, 100 percent. We will cease to have a country," Trump said. "I am the law and order candidate."
The crowd roared in approval. Trump then sharpened his attacks on Clinton, who has been reeling from an FBI report that said she was "extremely careless" with handling classified information through her use of a private email server at the State Department. Clinton has faced scrutiny because of the scandal, although the government elected to not press charges against her.
"Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is weak, ineffective, pandering, and as proven by her recent email scandal, which was an embarrassment not only to her, but to the entire nation as a whole, she’s either a liar or grossly incompetent," Trump said. "One or the other. Very simple. Personally, it’s probably both."
Trump added he was the "candidate of compassion. Believe it."
"You can’t have true compassion without providing safety for the citizens of our country," Trump said. "Every kid in America should be able to securely walk the streets in their own neighborhood without harm. Everyone will be protected equally and treated justly without prejudice. We will be tough. We will be smart. We will be fair, and we will protect all Americans."