Trump: Clinton "divides people into baskets as if they're objects"
At a speech in Baltimore Monday, Donald Trump lashed out at Hillary Clinton over a remark she made at a fundraiser Friday, in which she referred to half of his supporters as a “basket of deplorables.”
“She called these patriotic men and women every vile name in the book,” Trump told the National Guard Association. “She called them racist, sexist, xenophobic, Islamophobic. She called half of our supporters a ‘basket of deplorables’ in both a speech and an interview.”
“She divides people into baskets -- as though they were objects, not human beings,” he continued, in defense of “these wonderful, amazing people who are supporting our campaign.”
The remark’s provenance also gave Trump more ammunition against Clinton -- he pointed out that Clinton’s offending remark came “at one of her high-dollar fundraisers on Wall Street. She and her wealthy donors all had a good laugh. You heard them.” Trump called her remark “perhaps the most explicit attack ever made on American voters,” and he suggested that if she didn’t retract her comments, he didn’t see how she could continue her campaign.
Clinton said Friday, “To just be grossly generalist, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call ‘the basket of deplorables.’ Right? Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it. And unfortunately, there are people like that and he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people, now have 11 million.”
Earlier in the day, in an appearance on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends,” Trump said of Clinton’s characterization that it was “the biggest mistake of the political season.”
Trump made no mention of the episode with Clinton’s health Sunday, when she appeared to stumble as she abruptly left the 9/11 memorial service Monday. On “Fox and Friends,” though, he said “I just hope she gets well and gets back on the trail. And we’ll be seeing her at the debate.”