donald j. trump has conducted a presidential campaign arguably unlike any other in modern american history. here<u+2019>s a look at notable moments and missteps of his campaign. trump steps off an escalator and into history mr. trump descended an escalator and entered the presidential race in a 40-minute speech in the atrium of trump tower. he praised his golf courses, assailed china and mexico as economic competitors and promised to build a <u+201c>great wall<u+201d> to keep out mexican criminals and rapists. he was an unlikely contender, and none of his rivals anticipated his appeal to conservative voters. trump proposes mandatory registration for u.s. muslims mr. trump responded to the november 2015 terror attacks in paris with sweeping proposals aimed at american muslims: closing some mosques, monitoring others and requiring american muslims to register in a national database. the proposals set off a furor among democrats and some of his republican rivals that forced him to temporarily soften, but not reverse himself. <u+2018>a total and complete shutdown of muslims<u+2019> mr. trump called for the united states to bar all muslims from entering the country <u+2014> what he called <u+201c>a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states.<u+201d> he cited a potential risk of terrorism, saying the world<u+2019>s 1.6 billion muslims <u+201c>believe only in jihad and have no sense of reason or respect for human life.<u+201d> trump remarks on nato rattled europe mr. trump raised questions about his commitment to defend nato allies , telling reporters he would first look at their contributions to the alliance and whether they have <u+201c>fulfilled their obligations to us.<u+201d> his remarks unnerved allies in europe, especially more recent nato entrants in the baltic states, and echoed similar remarks he made about allies in asia. melania trump<u+2019>s convention speech disorganization within the campaign led to a deeply embarrassing moment that overshadowed much of the republican national convention. with millions of viewers watching, mr. trump<u+2019>s wife, melania trump, repeated word-for-word sections of a speech michelle obama gave at the 2008 democratic national convention. a trump organization employee took responsibility for the plagiarism. trump<u+2019>s dark tone at the convention mr. trump accepted the republican presidential nomination with an appeal to americans who felt the country was spiraling out of control and wanted a determined leader to protect them. <u+201c>the attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country.<u+201d> a clash with khizr khan mr. trump spent several days attacking the parents of a slain muslim american soldier , humayun khan, who had denounced him at the democratic national convention. mr. trump said the soldier<u+2019>s father, khizr khan, had <u+201c>no right<u+201d> to challenge him and mocked his mother, ghazala khan, as forbidden to speak by her religion. (she said that was untrue.) <u+2018>second amendment people<u+2019> mr. trump sparked a new controversy by raising the specter of political violence against mrs. clinton: he said at a rally that supporters of gun rights might be able to take matters into their own hands if she were elected and appointed liberal jurists to the supreme court. <u+201c>if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>although the second amendment people <u+2014> maybe there is, i don<u+2019>t know.<u+201d> trump and breitbart solidify their bond mr. trump appointed stephen k. bannon , the chairman of breitbart news, as his campaign chief, a move that highlighted months of campaign turmoil and reflected how deeply influenced his campaign had been by the website<u+2019>s right-wing voice. trump renounces birtherism, with a new lie after five years of baseless claims, mr. trump admitted that president obama was born in the united states . his commitment to <u+201c>birtherism<u+201d> sought to undermine the legitimacy of the country<u+2019>s first black president, and his renunciation of it included a new falsehood: mrs. clinton was the real <u+201c>birther,<u+201d> he said, not him. a feud with alicia machado mr. trump spent the week after the first presidential debate attacking alicia machado, a hispanic clinton supporter and former miss universe. he had once mocked her as <u+201c>miss piggy<u+201d> and <u+201c>miss housekeeping<u+201d> when she was a teenager. his attacks included a middle of the night tweet storm that falsely accused ms. machado of making a <u+201c>sex tape.<u+201d> lewd boasts on sexual assault threaten the campaign mr. trump faced a crisis after the publication of a videotape from 2005 on which he could be heard boasting in lewd terms about sexually assaulting women. dozens of republican leaders condemned him for the remarks, which threatened to undermine the party as a whole. mr. trump rejected calls to drop out of the race, but its trajectory may have been permanently altered. trump tape was a bigger crisis than the others after mr. trump<u+2019>s other crises <u+2014> attacks on a gold star family, a hispanic federal judge and the physical appearance of women, to name just a few <u+2014> why did one recording, however vulgar, turn out to be so damaging ? one reason: it was a video, which allowed a public skeptical of the news media to see and hear the boasts of a presidential nominee. <u+2018>i will keep you in suspense<u+2019> mr. trump began to say frequently that he was the victim of a conspiracy to rig the election and rob him of victory. at the third and final presidential debate, he said he might refuse to accept the election results if mrs. clinton won. (<u+201c>i will keep you in suspense,<u+201d> he said.) it was a statement that cast doubt on american democracy, contradicting over 150 years of history. find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via facebook , twitter and the morning briefing newsletter .
donald trump<u+2019>s moments and missteps: a look back
liam stack