Clinton’s remark quickly became the top trending topic on Twitter, with the hashtag #BasketofDeplorables drawing angry comments from Trump supporters, but also sarcastic jabs at them, as well.
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Speaking at an evening fundraiser in NY, the former USA secretary of state said Trump had given voice to hateful rhetoric from such individuals through his behaviour as a candidate for the White House.
Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill noted a previous speech in which she accused Trump of embracing a brand of U.S. political conservatism associated with white nationalism and nativism known as the “alt right” movement.
Trump said that as president, he would shoot Iranian boats out of the water if they make improper “gestures” toward American vessels, that Clinton is so protected from having to face consequences that she could murder someone in front of 20,000 witnesses and not face prosecution, and that voters need to be “very, very vigilant” on Election Day.
At the fundraiser, Clinton bemoaned the people she described as “deplorables”, saying “unfortunately there are people like that”.
And while Clinton did say she regretted the comment, she did not apologize to people she may have offended.
“And he has lifted them up”, Clinton continued.
Mike Pence, the governor of IN and Trump’s running mate, added: “Hillary Clinton’s low opinion of the people that support this campaign should be denounced IN the strongest possible terms”.
Pence’s response was the most forceful effort by Trump’s campaign to seize on Clinton’s remark and try to ensure maximum damage was inflicted on her campaign.
Clinton’s campaign is happy to have a debate about its belief that Trump’s movement is animated by racism, Democrats close to the campaign said Saturday.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus also weighed in, saying Saturday that “insulting everyday Americans to a group of wealthy donors shows whose priorities Clinton really has in mind”.
“Hillary Clinton should be ashamed of herself, and this proves beyond a doubt that she is unfit and incapable to serve as President of the United States”, he said.
Clinton and her aides have long said there has been double standard in the way Trump can make outrageous statements that, they adamantly believe, would imperil her campaign.
Trump’s camp immediately responded to Clinton’s comments by noting that they “revealed just how little she thinks of the hard-working men and women of America”.
“Wow, Hillary Clinton was SO INSULTING to my supporters, millions of awesome, hard working people”. At the fundraiser, Clinton said that half of Donald Trump’s supporters belong in a “basket of deplorables” and that they are racist and homophobic.
Clinton then pivoted and tried to characterize the other half of Trump’s supporters, putting them in “that other basket” and saying they need empathy.
“Obviously not everyone supporting Trump is part of the alt right, but alt right leaders are with Trump”, Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill tweeted.
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She had been speaking at an LGBT event in NY on Friday when she made the apparent gaffe. “And their supporters appear to make up half his crowd, when you observe the tone of his events”. But reporters travelling with her campaign were not allowed in and did not see the Democratic nominee. Obama was criticized for saying small-town voters “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations”.
