Clinton apologizes for 'Deplorables' comment being 'grossly generalistic'
Hillary Clinton said Saturday that she was "grossly generalistic" in calling half of Donald Trump's supporters a "basket of deplorables," after the Republican nominee argued that her comments had smeared many Americans and would take a political toll.
Less than 24 hours after she made the statement at a private New York City fundraiser. Clinton said "I regret saying 'half'—that was wrong." But she argued that the word "deplorable" was reasonable to describe much of Trump's campaign. "He has built his campaign largely on prejudice and paranoia and given a national platform to hateful views and voices, including by retweeting fringe bigots with a few dozen followers and spreading their message to 11 million people," Clinton said.
Clinton made the "deplorables" comment at an LGBT fundraiser Friday night at a New York City restaurant, with about 1,000 people in attendance. "To just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic—you name it," she said, before stressing that other Trump supporters are frustrated and need sympathy.
The rhetorical scuffle comes as the candidates head into the final two months of the campaign, with Trump trying to make up ground on Clinton before the Nov. 8 election.
