The campaign of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump responded forcefully Saturday to Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton’s depiction of half of Trump’s supporters as a “basket of deplorables“.
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Clinton – who’s said she’s the candidate to unify a divided country- made the comment at an LGBT fundraiser Friday night at a New York City restaurant, with about 1,000 people in attendance.
Hillary Clinton is drawing criticism after saying that half of Donald Trump’s supporters belong in a “basket of deplorables” at a private fundraiser.
And Trump himself tweeted: “Wow, Hillary Clinton was SO INSULTING to my supporters, millions of unbelievable, hard-working people”.
Speaking at a LGBT fundraiser in New York, Clinton said Trump had given voice to hateful rhetoric through his behaviour as a candidate for the White House in the November 8 election.
“They are Americans, and they deserve your respect”, he tweeted.
She had been speaking at an LGBT event in NY on Friday when she made the apparent gaffe.
Trump also sought on Friday to blame Clinton after reports that North Korea had tested a nuclear weapon, arguing it was the fourth such test since the Democrat became secretary of state in 2009 and that she should have ended the nation’s nuclear program before her tenure ended.
At the NY event with with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) supporters, she said that she grouped Mr. Trump’s sexist, racist and homophobic supporters in a “basket of deplorables”. Asked by Vox’s Ezra Klein this summer whether she regretted that remark, Clinton said she didn’t. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people-now [have] 11 million.
He added that millions of Americans support the Republican nominee because, “they are sick of corrupt career politicians like Hillary Clinton”.
The press laughed with the Democratic nominee as she basically rolled her eyes at Donald Trump’s antics.
In an RNC conference call for reporters on Saturday afternoon, congresswoman Marsha Blackburn and pastor Darrell Scott, a long-time Trump supporter, insisted that Clinton’s comment displayed her “elitism”. In the address, Clinton tried to tie Trump to the fringe group that often peddles anti-immigrant, white nationalist rhetoric.
During a spirted speech focused on the LGBT community, Clinton also made a joke that referenced conversion therapy, type of counselling created to urge gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender children to change their sexual orientation. When it was Trump’s turn, Lauer has been raked over the coals for treating the NY billionaire with kid gloves and not challenging the Republican nominee when he lied about opposing the Iraq war in 2002.
“Look at the #BasketOfDeplorables in Pensacola Florida last night!”
Noah called out the Today show cohost, 58, for failing to ask follow-up questions about some of Trump’s contradicting claims.
“Tonight’s comments were more than another example of Clinton lying to the country about her emails, jeopardizing our national security, or even calling citizens “super-predators” – this was Clinton, as a defender of Washington’s rigged system, telling the American public that she could care less about them”, he said. Previously, she confined her attacks on Trump supporters to those aligned with the nationalistic Alt Right movement and white supremacists.
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Trump concluded his brief remarks speaking to Schlafly, saying, “we will never, ever let you down”.
