Yes, it was that bad.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad weekend got kicked off Friday night with a fundraising event with LGBT activists that featured Barbara Streisand.
In a sign of “opening up” to the largely supportive mainstream media, Clinton brought a pool from her traveling press contingent along for the event. That was her first mistake. Reporters carry a number of recording devices with them at all times.
In this case, those recording devices were video cameras with live satellite links to CNN and a number of other media outlets.
Then, during the event, she got up to speak and used it as an opportunity to “whip up the base.” That’s not uncommon at this stage in a hotly contested presidential race. But what she said was definitely her second mistake:
“You know, just to be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic—you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.”
Even some of her biggest supporters were cringing, calling it a “47 percent moment”—a reminder of Mitt Romney’s hot microphone moment of the 2012 presidential campaign in which he suggested 47 percent of Americans were locked in to voting for Democrats because they are dependent upon government programs. And, almost immediately, the Trump campaign jumped on it.
Within minutes, campaign spokesman Jason Miller said, “Just when Hillary Clinton said she was going to start running a positive campaign, she ripped off her mask and revealed her true contempt for everyday Americans.
“Tonight’s comments were more than another example of Clinton lying to the country about her emails, jeopardizing our national security, or even calling citizens ‘super-predators’—this was Clinton, as a defender of Washington’s rigged system telling the American public that she could care less about them. And what’s truly deplorable isn’t just that Hillary Clinton made an inexcusable mistake in front of wealthy donors and reporters happened to be around to catch it, it’s that Clinton revealed just how little she thinks of the hard-working men and women of America.”
The next morning, Republican vice-presidential nominee Indiana Gov. Mike Pence delivered a stinging rebuke during his speech at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. He said Clinton’s comments were “extraordinary.”
“I will tell you right now, I campaign on a regular basis with Donald Trump. I campaign all across this country for Donald Trump,” he said. “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.”
Then came Clinton’s third mistake. In an effort to “walk back” her comments, she instead doubled down on them, further infuriating many Americans, saying:
“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.
“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.'”
This time, Trump answered personally to her comments, which he called “disgraceful.” He said Clinton had just committed the worst mistake of the political season, but rather than own up to it, she instead “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,” he added. “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.”
His campaign followed up Monday morning with its “Question of the Day,” 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 campaign also released a new 30-second TV spot that is meant to be a response to Clinton’s comment. The spot, titled “Deplorable,” is now running in the battleground states of Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
“‘Deplorable’ is a response to the incredibly offensive comments Hillary Clinton made last Friday in front of reporters and her wealthy donor friends, and serves as a call to action for the tens of millions of hard working Americans she viciously demonized—to stand united against the Clinton-led rigged Washington system,” Miller said. “These highly offensive and divisive comments reveal the contempt and disgust for everyday Americans that Hillary Clinton has hoped to hide by avoiding the press and running the least-transparent campaign in modern political history.”
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