MECHANICSBURG, Penn. — Donald Trump ratcheted up his rhetoric against Hillary Clinton once again on Monday, telling a rowdy crowd in battleground-state Pennsylvania that she was "the devil" — a temporary departure from the "Crooked Hillary" moniker.
Speaking about former Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, Trump said the Vermont senator "made a deal with the devil. She’s the devil. He made a deal with the devil."
It marks the first time Trump has flat out called Clinton the devil, but not the first time the GOP nominee has alluded to it.
In an interview with NBC-affiliate KUSA in Colorado Springs on Friday, Trump referred to Sanders' "deal with the devil" and said he had “buyers remorse” now that the deal was done. Sanders endorsed Clinton in July.
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Trump has continuously made a play for Sanders voters in the wake of this endorsement, noting on the trail their similar messages on trade. On Friday, Trump still maintained that he’d win a significant number of Sanders voters.
"I think his people are gonna vote for me because of trade because he was right about only one thing,” Trump told KUSA. "He was right about trade. He said that we are being ripped off on trade and we are.”
Trump, who constantly reminded that he was "self-funding" his campaign throughout the primaries, bragged while previewing his July fundraising totals.
"It’s gonna be announced tomorrow or the next day: we’ve raised, we think, about $35.8 million. This is unheard of for Republicans, $35.8 million," Trump said.
While the haul certainly shows a much-needed uptick for the Trump campaign’s fundraising efforts, "unheard of" it is not: In 2012, GOP nominee Mitt Romney raised just over $101 million in July of that year.
Meanwhile, far from the raucous rally, Trump’s campaign parted ways with yet another adviser.
Ed Brookover, formerly of the Carson campaign, was let go Monday, a source with knowledge of the decision told NBC News. A Trump campaign source called the firing a sign that the “takeover of power is complete,” referencing the transition between former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and acting-campaign head Paul Manafort.
