Hillary Clinton: "Very disappointed" in Trump over David Duke endorsement
MINNEAPOLIS Visiting a coffee shop in Minneapolis on Super Tuesday, Hillary Clinton said she was "disappointed" that Donald Trump did not immediately "disavow" the apparent support of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
"That is exactly the kind of statement that should be repudiated upon hearing it," she said to reporters gathered inside Mapps Coffee and Tea. "We can't let organizations and individuals that hold deplorable views about what it means to be an American be given any credence at all."
Clinton traveled to Minneapolis from Virginia, where she held two campaign events on Monday night, for two, surprise retail stops, at the coffee shop and an indoor, public market nearby. It's the seventh Super Tuesday state that Clinton has visited since late last week and, as she moved through the small shop jammed with people, she reminded Minnesotans to get out and caucus for her on Tuesday night.
"We are working hard everywhere," she said, "and I know it is hard. All we can do is hope people turn out for the primaries and the caucuses and we just want to do as well as we can."
Clinton also took questions from reporters in her traveling press corps for the first time since Dec. 4, when she held a press availability in Iowa. Asked if she believes Bernie Sanders, her opponent in the Democratic primary, has a path to the nomination if he performs well Tuesday in states like Minnesota, Clinton would not comment.
"Let's see what voters decide in all these states that are lined up today and then we will take stock after it's over," she said.
Clinton has seemingly turned her attention, and fire, on Republican candidates as she has traveled from state to state over the weekend but, in an interview on the Tom Joyner Show on Tuesday morning, she rejected the notion that she is solely focused on the general election.
"I do still draw contrasts," she said on the show. "I draw contrasts on things like college affordability and my plan to support Black colleges and universities."
At the coffee shop, Clinton would not say if she thought Donald Trump would be the Republican nominee.
"I don't have any real insight into their thought process," she said. "Obviously he's done very well. He could be on the path."
As Clinton was preparing to leave the coffee shop, where most patrons who approached her were supportive and wanted to take photos with her, a young woman confronted Clinton about her "super predator" comment in a speech on crime in 1996. The woman put Clinton on defense, and questioned her support of the African American community. Clinton defended her record and told the woman about a recent meeting with leaders of the Somali American community in Minneapolis.
From here, Clinton will head to Miami, Florida where the primary is not until March 15.
The decision to hold an event in Florida is reflective of the confidence that Clinton's top aides have in their candidate, and a readiness to move past Super Tuesday into the next phase of the campaign. Their approach to the South Carolina primary, which Clinton won by a landslide, was similar: immediately after celebrating her victory with her supporters in Columbia, Clinton flew to Memphis.
Clinton heads into the Super Tuesday contests in a strong position: according to the most recent CBS News polling, Clinton holds double digit leads in delegate-rich Texas, Georgia and Virginia. The race is closer in Massachusetts, where some recent polls show Sanders within 10 points of Clinton.