hillary clinton<u+2019>s running mate, tim kaine, defended her from accusations of dishonesty on sunday, after her inconsistent answers about emails, her rival donald trump and new polls raised the question of trustworthiness in the minds of voters.









clinton<u+2019>s use of a private email server while secretary of state has continued to haunt her, even after an fbi investigation cleared her of criminal wrongdoing. in an interview recorded on friday, her vice-presidential pick was asked to account for the false or inconsistent statements she has made on the subject over the last year.









kaine did not directly address clinton<u+2019>s struggle to restore trust with voters, arguing instead on nbc<u+2019>s meet the press that she <u+201c>did a great job telling her story<u+201d> in a speech at the democratic national convention last week, which meant <u+201c>folks are getting reintroduced to that story in a positive way<u+201d>.









clinton has, however, also stumbled in the wake of the convention. last week, she told the fox news host chris wallace that the fbi director, james comey, <u+201c>said my answers [about email practices] were truthful, and what i<u+2019>ve said is consistent with what i have told the american people<u+201d>.









comey said there was no evidence clinton lied to the fbi and declined to judge her various remarks to the public. last month he excoriated her for her <u+201c>extremely careless<u+201d> email practices and highlighted facts that contradicted her claims, though he found no evidence of intentional or criminal wrongdoing.









on friday, clinton said she <u+201c>may have short-circuited<u+201d> in her statements about comey and the emails. on nbc, kaine defended her, saying her answer may have emerged from a misunderstanding.









<u+201c>i thought her answers in that setting were truthful,<u+201d> kaine said, adding that wallace <u+201c>might have been asking her a different question<u+201d>.









<u+201c>the bottom line is this,<u+201d> kaine continued. <u+201c>she made a mistake and she said over and over again, <u+2018>i made a mistake, and i<u+2019>ve learned from it, and i<u+2019>m going to fix it, and i apologize for it.<u+2019><u+201d>









kaine also promised greater access to clinton, who had gone more than 240 days without a press conference before an event on friday at which she took a handful of questions from pre-selected journalists. <u+201c>i know that this is something that she<u+2019>s learned from, and we<u+2019>re going to be real transparent, absolutely,<u+201d> kaine said.









at a saturday night rally in new hampshire, trump gleefully seized on clinton<u+2019>s <u+201c>short-circuited<u+201d> remark. <u+201c>i think the people of this country don<u+2019>t want somebody that<u+2019>s going to short-circuit up here,<u+201d> trump said, pointing to his head. <u+201c>not as your president, not as your president.<u+201d>









he added: <u+201c>she<u+2019>s a totally unhinged person. she<u+2019>s unbalanced. all you have to do is watch her, see her, read about her.<u+201d>



















clinton<u+2019>s campaign has made trump<u+2019>s temperament a central issue, highlighting erratic actions including a sudden trip to promote a golf course in scotland during the uk<u+2019>s brexit referendum and angry outbursts toward women, minorities and, most recently, the family of a muslim american army captain killed in iraq. this week, barack obama, who has endorsed clinton, called trump <u+201c>unfit<u+201d> and <u+201c>woefully unprepared<u+201d> to be president.









trump tried to flip the argument on to clinton on saturday, labelling her a <u+201c>dangerous liar<u+201d>, <u+201c>the queen of corruption<u+201d> and <u+201c>hillary rotten clinton<u+201d>, a pun on her maiden name, rodham. <u+201c>my whole life has been about winning. i win,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>she can<u+2019>t win. she<u+2019>s not a winner. she can<u+2019>t win.<u+201d>









the perception of untrustworthiness has shadowed clinton through three decades on the national stage: even in 1996, while she was first lady, the new yorker explored the question of why she inspired vitriol and distrust. on sunday, a new abc/washington post poll found that nearly two in three voters believe clinton is <u+201c>too willing to bend the rules<u+201d>. six in 10 believe she is not honest.









but clinton has managed to sway some americans, at least relative to trump. both candidates are historically disliked, and a majority still have an unfavorable opinion of clinton. but the proportion has shrunk to 52% in the latest poll, with a move to 46% favorable, a major gain since the democratic convention.









in contrast, 61% of people polled had an unfavorable opinion of trump, versus 36% who liked him. about 60% of respondents said clinton had the qualifications and temperament to be president, while almost 66% said trump lacked the temperament or a good understanding of international affairs. the new poll also saw 49% of respondents find clinton <u+201c>more honest and trustworthy<u+201d> than trump, compared to 40% who felt the opposite.









in two swing states, virginia and nevada, trump<u+2019>s polling numbers have fallen: he faces a stark 12-point deficit in the former and a two-point gap in the latter, according to a new yougov poll. in arizona, a state that has voted democratic once in nearly 70 years but has a growing hispanic population, his lead has slipped to 44% to 42%.









trump<u+2019>s broader polling numbers have plummeted in a period during which, among other controversies, he again refused to release his taxes, insulted the family of a war hero, claimed that russia had not invaded ukraine <u+2013> two years after it had, said his daughter should <u+201c>find another company<u+201d> if sexually harassed and briefly claimed to have seen a nonexistent video of cash shipments to iran.









republicans have tried to tie clinton<u+2019>s foreign policy to that money, $400m owed to pre-revolutionary iran for a failed arms deal in the 1970s, describing it as <u+201c>ransom<u+201d> for hostages who were freed in january, around the time of delivery and sanctions relief for a nuclear arms deal. clinton began tentative nuclear talks with iran but the money dispute predated her and was concluded by her successor as secretary of state, john kerry, who also oversaw the hostage release.









on sunday, trump surrogates pursued the party line. kaine, a member of the senate foreign relations committee, deflected such criticism, saying: <u+201c>we don<u+2019>t negotiate for hostages.<u+201d>









he added: <u+201c>the settlement of a claim with iran, the payment of a portion of that settlement, hostages coming home, thank god, this was briefed to congress and the american public months ago.<u+201d>
tim kaine defends clinton and says she's learned from email 'mistake'
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