Hillary Clinton said Saturday that it was “wrong” to say that half of Donald Trump’s supporters were “deplorables” and “irredeemable”.
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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 behavior as a candidate for the White House.
“To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call ‘the basket of deplorables.’ Right?” the Democratic presidential nominee told donors at the event. “And he has lifted them up”.
“Well let me just say, that no one with a record of failure at home and overseas, no one with her avalanche of dishonesty and corruption, and no one with that low opinion of the American people should never be elected President of the United States of America”, Said Pence.
The Democratic Party candidate then said the other half of the billionaire mogul’s supporters were people who are desperate for change and feel abandoned by the government.
Keep track on how much Clinton and Trump are spending on television advertising, and where they’re spending it, via AP’s interactive ad tracker.
“Those are people we have to understand and empathise with as well”, she said.
Shortly after Clinton issued a statement on the matter Saturday, Kaine, a senator from Virginia, said in an interview with The Washington Post that he didn’t see a need for her to apologize.
Clinton made the comment Friday night at the LGBT For Hillary Gala, at which Barbra Streisand and Rufus Wainwright performed.
Donald Trump tweeted Saturday morning that he believes her comments were so insulting that it will cost her at the polls.
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”. “Right? Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it”.
Trump’s remark was reminiscent of a comment he made in January, when he said he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” but still not lose any support. “There are what I call the deplorables – the racists, you know, the haters, and the people who are drawn because they think somehow he’s going to restore an America that no longer exists”. Trump said in a statement.
“So I won’t stop calling out bigotry and racist rhetoric in this campaign”.
Trump’s running mate Mike Pence said Clinton had disrespected voters.
During his speech Friday night in Pensacola, Trump strayed from prepared remarks to suggest that Clinton is so immune from prosecution she could get away with murder. “What a awful thing she said about so many great Americans!”
Comments about voters – especially at private fundraisers – have tripped up presidential hopefuls in the past.
On Sunday the candidates were expected to put their campaigns on pause as they marked the 15th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks by attending the official commemoration in NY at the World Trade Center site.
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“I’m determined to bring our country together and make our economy work for everyone, not just those at the top”, she said. I’ve not heard that level of disdain for Americans that I can even repeat since Barack Obama described people that opposed him as people who cling to their guns and religion.
