Clinton Puts Trump Supporters in 'Basket of Deplorables'

'Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it'
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 10, 2016 10:50 AM CDT
Clinton Puts Trump Supporters in 'Basket of Deplorables'
Hillary Clinton gives a statement to members of the media after attending a National Security working session Friday in New York.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

"To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables," CNN quotes Hillary Clinton as saying at a donor event Friday. "Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it." While she said the other half of Trump supporters deserve empathy for being let down by the government and economy, conservatives immediately jumped on the "basket of deplorables" part, with #BasketofDeplorables quickly trending online. Trump himself responded on Twitter: "Wow, Hillary Clinton was SO INSULTING to my supporters, millions of amazing, hard working people. I think it will cost her at the Polls!"

Despite the uproar over Clinton's comment (and Trump's claim), the Washington Post reports it's unlikely to actually hurt her. Her supporters are unlikely to suddenly back Trump, and the people in Trump's "basket of deplorables" were never going to support Clinton anyway. The Post argues the only thing Clinton's comment could do is make some Trump supporters take a hard look at some of their fellows and come away less enthusiastic about their candidate. (More Hillary Clinton stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X