"Donald Trump gave a national security speech today, concentrating on how he would bolster the military. Mr. Trump is making gains across the country, primarily because Hillary Clinton is getting pounded by scandal. Day after day it's more reporting about the Clinton Foundation and the destroyed emails when she was secretary of state. That has taken pressure off Mr. Trump, who is getting more specific about what he would do as president. So with two months left in the campaign, it is a very close race. Enter the strategy of hate. On the Democratic side, the beat goes on - portraying Donald Trump as a bigot and hate inciter. New York Times columnist Timothy Egan wrote that Trump has 'all but deported the Statue of Liberty, laying out one of the darkest visions of the American experience that any major-party nominee has ever given.' Mr. Egan's analysis is unfair and inaccurate. Mr. Trump re-stated that he would build a wall on the border to stem the flow of narcotics and illegal aliens and that he would crack down on alien criminals who commit violence. Is that hate speech? Is that deporting the Statue of Liberty? Talking Points believes this demonization by the left of anyone who disagrees with their uber-liberal policies will fail. The fact is that Donald Trump's Arizona speech helped him, as the new polls show. Americans are tired of far-left media people accusing people of racism, bigotry and hate. That is a cheap tactic and it should be rejected by all fair-minded people. That same thing is true to a much lesser extent on the right. Demonizing Hillary Clinton is foolish. Let the facts speak for themselves. Secretary Clinton denies any wrongdoing in the email and Foundation controversies. But there are plenty of facts in play, so you can easily decide whether her denials have credibility. Also, Secretary Clinton believes Barack Obama has done a heck of a job. Again, facts are clear and reality stares us in the face. So it is not difficult to make a decision about either candidate. We don't need despicable and hateful branding. We need clarity."

The Factor invited reaction from Bob Cusack of The Hill. "Both sides are doing this," Cusack said, "but we are seeing Democrats going after Trump harder. We saw this with Romney in 2012 when they demonized him and won. The left is doing it more." Cusack concurred with polls showing that Trump has been making ground. "He has momentum and he has recovered after a very rough post-convention. I think it's because of the drip-drip-drip of the Hillary Clinton email stuff. He is more scripted than he was before. If he can do some prep work and land zingers in the debate, he can really make up some ground in the battleground states."

Even some of her reliably liberal pals have criticized Hillary Clinton for the ongoing email scandal. Monica Crowley and Eboni Williams analyzed the spate of left jabs. "A lot of people have serious questions about how the FBI has handled this," Crowley said, "and recent polling shows that two-thirds of Americans can't understand how she escaped prosecution. She had 13 mobile phones and 5 iPads for a grand total of 18 devices!" Williams agreed that Clinton has a serious reputational issue. "She's so untrustworthy that even Colin Kaepernick said she would be in jail if her name wasn't Clinton. A lot of people surrounding Hillary Clinton have to question how much of their credibility they are willing to lose." The Factor concluded with a personal message to viewers: "At the beginning of the investigation I told all of you that I respected FBI Director James Comey. I no longer feel that way, he has lost all credibility."

While many large cities have dramatically lowered their murder rates, Chicago is enduring its deadliest year in decades. The Factor spoke about the crisis with Enoch Muhammed, who works with at-risk children in the city. "You cannot deal with violence," Muhammed declared, "if you do not understand that violence is systemic in all aspects of life. You have to have funding and investment, there has to be block-by-block and porch-by-porch work. The city is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on tourism in areas that already affluent, but they are starving the neighborhoods that need the funding. There is a lot of pain in those neighborhoods and there are rogue cops who are supplying guns and drugs." The Factor called for the National Guard to immediately patrol the streets of Chicago.

Some polls show that Arizona, usually a Republican state, is now a tossup between Trump and Clinton. The Factor welcomed Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who scoffed at the polls. "Things have not changed," he asserted. "There is a silent majority who will vote for Trump without going public. Donald Trump is a winner and I have predicted that he will win the presidency. He'll win Arizona!" Arpaio also disputed Hillary Clinton's contention that the border is relatively secure. "Tons of drugs are coming in and destroying our people, so how can our border be secure? Things are getting worse and I blame Hillary Clinton. She was Secretary of State and how many times did she go to Mexico and ask them to stop the drug trade?"

Dennis Miller cracked wise about a photo showing President Obama and Vladimir Putin glaring at one another. "Obama giving you stinkeye," he quipped, "is like Barney Fife telling you he has a bullet in his shirt pocket. To me Obama and Putin are playing Risk and Obama leaves the room while Putin just keeps playing and takes Crimea." Miller also pledged to cast a vote in November, albeit reluctantly. "I'll vote because of my allegiance to the troops, but I don't think there's any point. Look at the list - deals with Iran, IRS audits of people they disagree with, no border, ObamaCare pushed through. I think there has already been a coup! And we have Hillary Clinton coughing more than Bette Davis with esophageal reflux in a Welsh coal mine."

The school board in San Francisco is considering sandblasting George Washington's name from a city high school because he owned slaves. Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum elaborated on the story. "They feel his legacy does not represent the community," she reported, "and the president of the school board actually said that people like George Washington do not inspire pride and are not relevant. He said George Washington's name should be replaced with that of Maya Angelou." The Factor called out the P.C. move, saying, "Maya Angelou was a patriot who did a lot of good, but George Washington is a towering historical figure."

Mary Newton, Lehigh Acres, FL: "Bill, every time you have Trump on, you grill him as though you have disdain for him. You can be such a jerk!"

Steve March, Greentop, MO: "Bill, love the Factor, but you have to stop coaching Trump."

Ellen Vanderstarre, Rutherford, NJ: "O'Reilly, I am glad you are giving a realistic view of the campaign. It's very upsetting to hear the media bashing Mr. Trump or talking trash about Mrs. Clinton's coughing. I am for Trump but respect Clinton for trying."

USA Today has put 'Killing the Rising Sun' at the top of its fall preview of non-fiction must-read books.