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Clinton: half of Trump supporters belong in "basket of deplorables"

Saturday, September 10, 2016 - 01:02

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said half the supporters of Republican rival Donald Trump belonged in a ''basket of deplorables'' of people who were racist, homophobic, sexist, xenophobic, or Islamophobic. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

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ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) STORY: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said half the supporters of Republican rival Donald Trump belonged in a "basket of deplorables" of people who were racist, homophobic, sexist, xenophobic, or Islamophobic. Speaking at a fundraiser on Friday night in New York, Clinton said Trump had given voice to hateful rhetoric through his behavior as a candidate for the White House in the Nov. 8 election. "To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the 'basket of deplorables,'" Clinton said. "Unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up." Some of those were irredeemable, she said, but they did not represent America. The other basket of Trump's supporters constituted individuals desperate for change who felt let down by the government and the economy, Clinton added. "They don't buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different," Clinton said. "Those are people we have to understand and empathize with, as well." Clinton's comments drew a rebuke from Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, who said on Twitter that Clinton had insulted millions of Americans. New York businessman Trump, who has never previously run for political office, regularly says things that some consider insulting or off-color. Also on Friday night, he told supporters in Pensacola, Florida, that Clinton could shoot someone and not be prosecuted. "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. The hashtag #BasketOfDeplorables was trending on Saturday morning as many Twitter users either condemned or supported Clinton's remarks. Twitter user Basketeer Vendetta, under the account Vendetta92429, tweeted a photo of Trump supporters wearing campaign T-shirts and hats, adding: "Proud to be part of the #BasketOfDeplorables with my fellow Americans." And Trump himself tweeted: "Wow, Hillary Clinton was SO INSULTING to my supporters, millions of amazing, hard working people. I think it will cost her at the Polls!" But some Twitter users agreed with Clinton, referencing remarks by Trump that have been called racist, such as when he described some Mexican immigrants drug dealers and rapists.