Hillary Clinton Says She ‘Regrets’ Calling Millions of Americans ‘Basket of Deplorables’

Hillary NYC Event AP
Alex Swoyer
Washington, DC

Hillary Clinton issued a statement that she “regrets” saying half of Donald Trump supporters are “deplorable” — but she stopped short of apologizing for her comment.

“Last night I was ‘grossly generalistic,’ and that’s never a good idea. I regret saying ‘half’ — that was wrong,” Clinton said in a lengthy statement. But she added, “I won’t stop calling out bigotry and racist rhetoric in this campaign.”

Speaking at a fundraiser in New York City on Friday, Clinton declared, “You know to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables,” she added: “…the racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it.”

Following her comment, the Democratic nominee has faced backlash on Twitter, with #BasketofDeplorables being the top trending hashtag for hours.

Her statement of regret comes after her spokesman Nick Merrill tried to clarify her comments earlier on Saturday and after Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway called for an apology.

Trump also posted on Twitter in response to Clinton’s attack on his supporters, saying it was “so insulting.”

Trump’s runningmate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence also slammed Clinton’s comments at the Values Voter Summit early Saturday afternoon, demanding that her comments be disavowed.

“They are not a basket of anything,” he defended. “They are Americans and they deserve your respect.”

Clinton’s labeling of “half” of Trump supporters resembles 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s comment that nearly half — 47 percent — of the country’s population are “victims” that are “dependent upon government” and won’t vote for him.

In 2012, Obama responded to Romney’s statement, saying, “We need a President who is fighting for all Americans, not one who writes off nearly half the country.”

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