Clinton slams Trump for commenting on Fed policies

[September 07, 2016]  By Jeff Mason

TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton criticized Republican rival Donald Trump on Tuesday for making comments about the Federal Reserve's monetary policies, which she said should be off-limits for U.S. presidents and presidential candidates.

"You should not be commenting on Fed actions when you are either running for president or you are president," Clinton told reporters on her campaign plane. "Words have consequences. Words move markets. Words can be misinterpreted."

Trump, who has previously accused the U.S. central bank of keeping interest rates low to help Democratic President Barack Obama, said on Monday that interest rates should change.

"They're keeping the rates down so that everything else doesn't go down," Trump said in response to a reporter's request to address a potential rate hike by the Federal Reserve in September. "We have a very false economy."

Clinton criticized the New York real estate magnate in her second press conference in as many days.

"He should not be trying to talk up or talk down the economy, and he should not be adding the Fed to his long list of institutions and individuals that he is maligning and otherwise attacking," she said.

Clinton, a former U.S. senator from New York and secretary of state, also said that daughter Chelsea Clinton's involvement in the Clinton Foundation charity will be decided after the Nov. 8 election.

"These issues will be decided after the election. And we will decide the appropriate way forward," she said.

Earlier, she told ABC News that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, should not have to step down before the election from his position at the foundation.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump stands on stage during a campaign town hall meeting in Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S., September 6, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar

"I don't think there are conflicts of interest," Clinton said in the ABC interview. "I know that that's what has been alleged and never proven. But nevertheless, I take it seriously."

Her use of a private email server while secretary of state and questions about improper influence involving donors to the Clinton Foundation have been thorny topics for Clinton as the presidential campaign headed into its final months.

Clinton dismissed the latest call for a new investigation into her email practices.

"The FBI resolved all of this. Their report answered all the questions," she said.

Clinton also brushed off polls that show the race tightening between her and Trump.

“We’re sticking with our strategy. We feel very good about where we are. But we’re not taking anything for granted," she said.

(Writing by Doina Chiacu and Jeff Mason; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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