War of words in US election heating up

Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks as (L-R) his daughter Ivanka, his son Eric and Eric's wife Lara Yunaska (R) look on during a campaign victory party after rival candidate Senator Ted Cruz dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination following the results of the Indiana state primary, at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, US, May 3, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DONALD TRUMP vowed to unite the Republican Party after his landslide victory in Indiana, which all but confirmed him as the party's nominee. Beijing Times commented on Thursday:

Trump's latest triumph almost certainly sets the stage for this presumptive nominee to face off against Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee.

This is interesting as it will be a man and a woman competing for the first time for the US presidency.

Both of them are familiar to the rank-and-file voters as television celebrities, as well as controversial presidential candidates.

The two camps have been busy trading barbs with Trump accusing Clinton of "telling lies" and Clinton calling Trump "a loose cannon".

However, Trump has a natural advantage, his inflammatory rhetoric, which led to him being called "crazy" by other candidates, is something new to US voters and has contributed to his popularity. And the New York real estate mogul is appealing to people's emotions rather than presenting policies, which could be used against him.

He has also been exploiting the gender card by calling Clinton "weak" and presenting himself as "strong", and engaging in a character assassination against Clinton claiming she cannot be trusted, which is likely to damage Clinton in the eyes of some undecided voters.

However, it is noteworthy that many voters seem afraid of both candidates and a recent poll suggests more than 40 percent of voters are still struggling to make a choice.