Hillary Clinton: Half of Donald Trump supporters in "basket …
Hillary Clinton, speaking Friday at a big-ticket fundraiser in New York City, said half of Donald Trumps supporters could be categorized into a basket of deplorables, implying that his backers hold irredeemable views on issues of race, gender and religion.
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The Democratic nominee spoke to donors about some of the "racist, sexist, homophobic" backers of Trump's campaign, but called for empathy for "th...
To just be grossly generalist, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables, Clinton told donors gathered at a Manhattan restaurant. Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it. And unfortunately, there are people like that, and he has lifted them up.
He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people, now have 11 million, she continued, referencing Trumps campaign hire of Breitbart News Steve Bannon. He tweets and retweets offensive, hateful, mean-spirited rhetoric.
The Democratic nominee noted that some of those folks -- they are irredeemable, but they are not America.
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Clinton, who was introduced by celebrities Laverne Cox and BarbraStreisand, went on to describe the other basket.
The other basket, and I know because I look at this crowd, I see friends from all over America hereBut that other basket of people are people who feel that government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, she said. They are just desperate for change. Doesnt really even matter where it comes from.
In a statement Saturday afternoon,Clinton later walked back her estimate that half of Trumps supporters were deplorable,saying it was wrong.
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Last night I was grossly generalistic, and thats never a good idea. I regret saying half -- that was wrong, she wrote. Butshe went on to list other deplorable developments in the Trump campaign, including his hiring of a major advocate for the alt-right, his attack on a federal judge for his Mexican heritage, and his criticisms of a Gold Star Muslim family.
I wont stop calling out bigotry and racist rhetoric in this campaign, she promised.
Outrage spread on Twitter almost immediately after Clintons basket of deplorables line, which GOP pollster Frank Luntznoted was similar to the campaign-sinking 47 percent comments made by Mitt Romney in 2012.
Trumps children mocked Clinton further on Twitter, using trendinghashtags like #basketofdeplorables to defend their father:
Trump even fired back at Clinton on the social media platform, blasting Clinton Saturday morning that she had been SO INSULTING to my supporters.
Later in the afternoon, Trump said he has respect for all of Clintons supporters, though they will never vote for me:
In a longer statement released after his tweets, Trump called Clintons remarks the worst mistake of the political season.
[I]nstead of owning up to this grotesque attack on American voters, she tries to turn it around with a pathetic rehash of the words and insults used in her failing campaign? Trump said. For the first time in a long while, her true feelings came out, showing bigotry and hatred for millions of Americans.
The Clinton campaign, for itspart, has backed their candidates comments, saying that while Trumps supporters dont all fit into that category, several are part of the so-calledalt-right hate movement.
Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill tweeted this late Friday night:
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Hillary Clinton: Half of Donald Trump supporters in "basket ...