"Could it be that we have no way to counter her, just letting that old bitch Hillary smear us?"
Trump said somewhat sullenly.
Ivanka replied: "Martin suggested we turn the tables—bite down on the claim that Hillary really does have health issues. After all, she's had plenty of health problems in the past."
A middle-aged bald white aide said: "That's a good idea. We can also pull out those medical records of Hillary's and compare them to Mr. Trump's."
"Yeah, the public wants a healthy, vigorous president leading them, not some frail weakly woman." Another aide said excitedly.
Trump nodded, then said somewhat smugly: "My health has always been great. I like eating red meat, I exercise regularly, I'm full of energy—I only need three or four hours of sleep a day, and the rest of the time can be used for handling affairs."
Uh, that's a bit of an exaggeration???
The aides thought to themselves.
Ivanka relayed the campaign team's ideas to Martin over the phone.
This was Trump's intent, as Martin's timely discoveries of issues had convinced him that Martin's cleverness could help.
After thinking it over, Martin had a flash of inspiration. In his other memories, Hillary suddenly withdrew midway through a public speech not long after, causing quite a stir—even rumors of her having "Parkinson's."
If they timed their attacks on Hillary's health right before that day, wouldn't the effect be even better?
As for the date.
He remembered it clearly from his memories.
Because that day was a special time: September 11, the 15th anniversary of New York's "9/11" event.
He told Ivanka: "Time the strike for September 10. Hillary has announced she'll attend New York's '9/11' 15th anniversary memorial and give a public speech. Hit her public image with this right before—hiding health issues isn't honest behavior. If something really happens to her that day, it'll be even more interesting."
Martin said the future truth in a joking tone.
When Ivanka told her father and the aides about Martin's suggestion.
Trump's aide team thought it was a great idea.
Someone said: "Even if Hillary doesn't have a health episode during the speech, we can fabricate one—like, did her hand shake while holding the script? Did she have a nasal voice? Was her walking pace slower than usual...? We can tie it all to health issues."
"Great plan—let's do it!" Trump immediately agreed.
September 1-2 was US Labor Day.
By tradition, the presidential election officially began after Labor Day, with two months of final sprinting.
In 2016, the presidential race—though outsiders saw it as grand—had massive momentum.
Because outsiders focus on the spectacle, while insiders look at the money.
The primaries hadn't started, but fundraising was already laid out. From tycoons, lobby groups, big corporations' attitudes, it wasn't hard to see who the strongest contender was: Republicans favored Jeb, Democrats had Hillary far ahead in new setups.
From 1988 when old Bush entered the White House to now, nearly thirty years, twenty of them had a White House occupant surnamed Bush or Clinton.
Thinking 2016 would be another Bush-Clinton White House battle, many muttered it was boring—no fresh faces.
But regardless of interest, both were acceptable candidates to the elite class.
After the election heated up, no major surprises occurred; Republicans or Democrats always pushed forward reassuring choices.
But this time, the outsiders were wrong.
The previously overlooked Trump suddenly surged, surpassing all intraparty rivals to become the Republican nominee.
This led to strong dissatisfaction at the Republican grassroots, nearly spiraling out of control.
On the Republican side, no one took the controversy-stirring Trump seriously—he bashed Mexicans, Muslims, mainstream media, incumbent politicians.
Media, at first, didn't see him as a viable candidate but thought his rants would draw viewers.
Unexpectedly, his rants resonated with the grassroots; free exposure skyrocketed his support.
Jeb's backers spared no expense on attack ads against Trump, but ultimately, Jeb and other establishment favorites lost.
On the Democratic side, Hillary wasn't smooth sailing either.
Thinking Hillary would dominate—after all, she'd been building her image, networks, and funding since losing to Obama in 2008.
But then came the unknown Senator Sanders, donning the "socialist" hat, waving the anti-elite, anti-status-quo banner, chasing her support all the way.
In February's early primaries, results worried the elite class: Trump on one side, Sanders on the other—the presidential race teetered on the edge of chaos.
Fortunately, the Democratic side had only two competitors; the establishment backed Hillary, mainstream media downplayed and ignored Sanders—yes, deliberately suppressing public attention to ensure Hillary's narrow victory in the primaries.
Thinking she'd crush the buffoonish Trump after winning the primary.
But the elite were wrong again.
Hillary's too-politician image, her logical speeches, made the public see her as too hypocritical.
Trump's big mouth—spewing nonsense, full of holes. Clearly clueless on policy, yet boldly guaranteeing solutions—gave the public a fresh feel, genuinely entertaining.
To this day, nearly a full year later, both had approval ratings around 40%.
Hillary hadn't pulled away; occasionally, Trump even surged ahead.
The pre-election powerhouse turned out to be a paper tiger!