Donald Trump continued to use Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorable” against her even though the Democratic nominee has already expressed regret about making the controversial comment.
On Monday morning, the Trump campaign sent a release asking, “What Half of Donald Trump’s Military Supporters Does Hillary Clinton Deem Deplorable?”
Over the weekend, Clinton has expressed regret after making a generalized claim about supporters of Trump during a fundraiser Friday night, where she said “half” of Trump supporters can be placed in the “basket of deplorables,” meaning racist, sexist, homophobic or xenophobic.
“Last night I was ‘grossly generalistic,’ and that’s never a good idea,” the Democratic presidential nominee said in a statement Saturday. “I regret saying ‘half’ — that was wrong.”
The remarks were made at a fundraiser headlined by a performance from Barbra Streisand.
“If I were to be grossly generalistic, I would say you can take Trump supporters and put them in two big baskets,” Clinton said at the event, according to CNN. “There are what I call the deplorables — the racists, you know, the haters, and the people who are drawn because they think somehow he’s going to restore an America that no longer exists. So just eliminate them from your thinking, because we’ve always had an annoying prejudicial element within our politics.”
In her statement Saturday, Clinton went on to stand by her call-out of Trump’s “alt-right” supporters, saying, “It’s deplorable that Trump has built his campaign largely on prejudice and paranoia and given a national platform to hateful views and voices.”
Trump senior communications advisor issued a statement asking, “Secretary Clinton, on Friday you said half of Donald Trump’s supporters belonged in the ‘basket of deplorables.’ Mr. Trump has a 19-point lead with former and active duty military members, with 55 percent polled saying they support him. In your opinion, what half of those voters belong in your ‘basket?’”
The two presidential contenders are set to debate for the first time on Tuesday, Sept. 26, with NBC news anchor Lester Holt moderating.