Donald Trump released a new ad Monday targeting Hillary Clinton and her Friday remark that half of his supporters belong in the “basket of deplorables.”
In the ad, Trump took Clinton to task for lashing out at tens of millions of Americans, arguing that she is “viciously demonizing” hard-working people, especially those who support his campaign. The ad will air on television in swing states Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
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“Speaking to wealthy donors, Hillary Clinton called tens of millions of Americans ‘deplorable,'” a narrator says in the ad before showing Clinton’s remarks from last week.
“People like you, you and you,” the narrator says as images of Trump supporters appear. “Deplorable. You know what’s deplorable? Hillary Clinton viciously demonizing hard-working people like you.”
The ad shows the Trump campaign’s intent to make this the issue of the week, especially after Clinton suffered a medical episode on Sunday while attending a memorial commemorating the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Western 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,” Jason Miller, a Trump communications adviser, said in a statement.
“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.”
In an interview Monday morning, Trump argued that the comment was the “single biggest mistake” of the campaign, adding that it is “much worse” than former GOP nominee Mitt Romney telling donors four years ago that 47 percent of Americans are dependent on government.
“Personally, when I heard it, I thought that it was not something that was within the realm of possible, that she would have said it. And I said to my people: ‘I don’t believe that she said it. I think you have to check it, because there’s no way that she said this,'” Trump told Fox News.
“And she actually did, and she even really doubled up, because it was said with such anger, such unbelievable anger. And I think this is the biggest mistake of the political season. I really do. When I saw this in its full form, and I saw the anger with which she said it — I mean, the way she spoke — I think it’s the single biggest mistake of the political season.”
