As far as I can tell, none of the Trump campaign pushback to Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” comments have said anything about the people Clinton was talking about not being racist, not being misogynist or by whatever definition not being ‘haters.’ It’s not referenced once.
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At a fundraiser in New York City Friday night, Clinton told a crowd of donors that half of Trump’s supporters are “irredeemable” due to their bigoted views, but the other half are just looking to change the government because they feel it has “let them down”.
Jason Miller, Trump Communications Advisor: “Just when Hillary Clinton said she was going to start running a positive campaign, she ripped off her mask and revealed her true contempt for everyday Americans. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic – you name it”. She went on to say that these people “are not America”.
“As long as Trump stays out of the way and doesn’t overshadow Hillary’s comment, her “basket of deplorables” comment should dominate the media in the coming days and runs the risk of negatively defining her campaign”, said Republican strategist Doug Heye.
At Friday night’s fundraiser, Clinton said Trump had given voice to hateful rhetoric through his behavior as a candidate for the White House in the November 8 election.
“As I said, many of Trump’s supporters are hard-working Americans who just don’t feel like the economy or our political system are working for them”, Clinton said. “Now, some of those folks – they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America”, said the Democratic nominee, who was the country’s top diplomat during President Barack Obama’s first term.
In her statement, Clinton said of Trump: “it’s deplorable that he’s attacked a federal judge for his ‘Mexican heritage, ‘ bullied a Gold Star family due to their Muslim faith, and promoted the lie that our first black president is not a true American”.
Trump’s subtle jab hasn’t been the only comparison of Clinton’s remark to Romney’s, which is often attributed to the demise of his presidential bid. Her lead in national and battleground state polls has narrowed in recent weeks, giving fresh hope to Trump’s supporters.
While Clinton is taking heat for her comment, Trump’s brand is controversy. Clinton said “I regret saying “half” – that was wrong”.
Clinton had earlier divided Trump’s supporters into “two big baskets”, what she called “the deplorables”, in an interview with Channel 2 News Israel that aired on Thursday.
“Because she’s being so protected, she could walk into this arena right now and shoot somebody with 20,000 people watching right smack in the middle of the heart and she wouldn’t be prosecuted, okay?” he said.
In a separate statement, Trump said: “Isn’t it disgraceful that Hillary Clinton makes the worst mistake of the political season and instead 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?”
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She also noted her comments about empathising with other Trump supporters. But reporters traveling with her campaign were not allowed in and did not see her. 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”.
