Trump Campaign Goes After Clinton For ‘Basket Of Deplorables’ Remark

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers an immigration policy speech during a campaign rally at the Phoenix Convention Center, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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After Hillary Clinton on Friday night said that half of Donald Trump’s supporters are part of a “basket of deplorables,” the Trump campaign quickly called on the Democratic nominee to apologize.

Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, told Clinton press secratary Nick Merrill on Twitter that Clinton should apologize.

And the Trump campaign issued a statement early Saturday morning calling Clinton’s comments “deplorable.”

“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. 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,” Trump spokesman Jason Miller said in a statement.

“And what’s truly deplorable isn’t just that Hillary Clinton made an inexcusable mistake in front of wealthy donors and reporters happened to be around to catch it, it’s that Clinton revealed just how little she thinks of the hard-working men and women of America,” he added.

During a Friday night fundraiser in New York, Clinton said that some of Trump’s supporters are part of a “basket of deplorables.”

“To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the ‘basket of deplorables.’ Right? Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it,” she said. “And unfortunately, there are people like that and he has lifted them up … he tweets and retweets offensive, hateful, mean-spirited rhetoric.”

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Notable Replies

  1. In Trump’s defense, “basket of deplorables” represents a poorly-chosen phrase, as it fails to account for scale.

    “A barge full of deplorables” would have been a more apt descriptor.

  2. Avatar for marby marby says:

    I cringed when I read Hillary’s comment and am concerned that this is an unforced error. Labeling a candidate is one thing, but derisively labeling voters (even if there is truth in the label) is unwise. I hope I’m wrong and this doesn’t become a setback to Hillary’s campaign.

  3. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    I would love for Hillary to call a press conference where all she does is read direct quotes from Trump, Lewandowski, Bannon, Bossie, David Duke, etc.

    Then watch Trump try to defend those statements and make a bigger ass of himself, because he can’t help but double down.

  4. Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it," she said.

    Funny how Trump’s supporters left that out.

  5. Gee, TPM, how about including the whole quote where she also talks about the other half in a sympathetic way. I count on TPM to not be part of the MSM that selectively quotes the subjects for sensational headlines. Shame on you.

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