Sept. 9, 2016

"Basket of Deplorables"

At an LGBT fundraiser with Barbra Streisand at Cipriani Wall Street in New York on the evening of Sept. 9, 2016, Hillary Clinton made disparaging remarks about Trump supporters which were quickly compared to Mitt Romney's 47 percent remarks from the 2012 campaign (made at a May 17, 2012 fundraiser in Florida but publicized in September) and to Barack Obama's remarks about people in small towns clinging to guns or religion (made at an April 2008 fundraiser in San Francisco >).  Being among friendly faces at a fundraiser seems to encourage politicians to make remarks that are not thought through:

"To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.  [Laughter] 

"Right?  They're 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.  He tweets and retweets their offensive, hateful, mean-spirited rhetoric. 

"Now some of those folks, they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America.  [Applause]

"But the other basket, the other basket, and I know because I look at this crowd, I see friends from all over America here.  I see friends from Florida and Georgia and South Carolina and Texas and...as well as, you know, New York and California.  But that other basket of people are people who feel that government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares aboutt them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they're just desperate for change; it doesn't really even matter where it comes from."

Sept. 10. 2016

Statement from Hillary Clinton

“Last night I was ‘grossly generalistic,’ and that's never a good idea. I regret saying ‘half’ -- that was wrong. But let's be clear, what's really ‘deplorable’ is that Donald Trump hired a major advocate for the so-called ‘alt-right’ movement to run his campaign and that David Duke and other white supremacists see him as a champion of their values. It's deplorable that Trump 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. It's deplorable that he's attacked a federal judge for his ‘Mexican heritage,’ bullied a Gold Star family because of their Muslim faith, and promoted the lie that our first black president is not a true American. So I won't stop calling out bigotry and racist rhetoric in this campaign. I also meant what I said last night about empathy, and the very real challenges we face as a country where so many people have been left out and left behind. As I said, many of Trump's supporters are hard-working Americans who just don’t feel like the economy or our political system are working for them.  I'm determined to bring our country together and make our economy work for everyone, not just those at the top. Because we really are ‘stronger together.’”

DONALD J. TRUMP STATEMENT

"Isn't it disgraceful that Hillary Clinton makes the worst mistake of the political season and instead of owning up to this grotesque attack on American voters, she tries to turn it around with a pathetic rehash of the words and insults used in her failing campaign? For the first time in a long while, her true feelings came out, showing bigotry and hatred for millions of Americans. How can she be President of our country when she has such contempt and disdain for so many great Americans? Hillary Clinton should be ashamed of herself, and this proves beyond a doubt that she is unfit and incapable to serve as President of the United States. I will be President for all of the people, and together we will Make America Great Again. - Donald J. Trump

​GOV. PENCE BLASTS HILLARY CLINTON’S “BASKET OF DEPLORABLES” INSULT OF MILLIONS OF AMERICANS AT VALUES VOTER SUMMIT

Gov. Pence: “No One With That Low Opinion Of The American People Should Ever Be Elected President Of The United States”

TRANSCRIPT
GOV. PENCE: Hillary Clinton said last night at a big fundraiser in New York City that the American people, the millions of Americans that are supporting my running mate, were described in the most deplorable of terms. It's extraordinary to think of it. She referred to those people as irredeemable. I will tell you right now, I campaign on a regular basis with Donald Trump. I campaign all across this country for Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton’s low opinion of the people that support this campaign should be denounced in the strongest possible terms. The truth of the matter is that the men and women who support Donald Trump's campaign are hard-working Americans, farmers, coal miners, teachers, veterans, members of our law enforcement community, members of every class of this country who know that we can make America great again. So let me just say from the bottom of my heart: Hillary, they are not a basket of anything, they are Americans, and they deserve your respect. I’ve not heard that level of disdain for Americans that I can even repeat since Barack Obama described people that opposed him as people who cling to their guns and religion. Let me just say, no one with a record of failure at home and abroad, no one with her avalanche of dishonesty and corruptions, and no one with that low opinion of the American people should ever be elected president of the United States of America. We must decide here and now that Hillary Clinton will never be president of this great nation.


Also at the fundraiser Barbra Streisand performed "Send in the Clowns" with revised lyrics:

VERSE 1
IS HE THAT RICH?
MAYBE HE’S POOR?
‘TIL HE REVEALS HIS RETURNS
WHO CAN BE SURE?
WHO NEEDS THIS CLOWN?

VERSE 2
SOMETHING’S AMISS
I DON’T APPROVE
IF HE WERE RUNNING THE FREE WORLD,
WHERE WOULD WE MOVE?
NAME ME A TOWN?
JUST WHO IS THIS CLOWN?

BRIDGE
AND WHEN WE THOUGHT WE’D HEARD IT ALL
HUFFING AND PUFFING ABOUT HIS BIG FANTASY WALL
MAKING HIS ENTRANCE ON STAGE…
HE JUST SHOOTS FROM THE HIP
HE’S FULL OF BULL
HE’S LOST HIS GRIP!

VERSE 3
AND IF BY CHANCE
HE GETS TO HEAV’N
EVEN UP THERE HE’LL DECLARE…
CHAPTER ELEV’N!
WHO’D HIRE THIS CLOWN?
THIS SAD VULGAR CLOWN…
“YOU’RE FIRED” YOU CLOWN!

BRIDGE 2
HILLARY’S KIND…
SMART THAT IS CLEAR
WHILE SHE IS GIVING US HOPE…TRUMP IS SELLING US FEAR
LOOK HOW HE CHANGES HIS VIEWS EVERY TIME THAT HE SPEAKS
IT’S LIE AFTER LIE
CAN’T TAKE EIGHT MORE WEEKS!

VERSE 4
THIS IS NO FARCE
MAYBE HE’S BROKE?
IS THIS “THE ART OF HIS DEAL”
OR SOME AWFUL JOKE?
YOU’VE GOT TO ADMIT…
THIS SILLY HALF-WIT…
IS SO FULL OF ­...!