Donald Trump said he was stunned to the point of disbelief when he heard that Hillary Clinton said half of his supporters belong in a “basket of deplorables,” calling Mrs. Clinton’s statement “the biggest mistake of the political season” and saying the president has to be a leader for everybody.
“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 she said it. I think you have to check it,’ ” Mr. Trump said Monday on “Fox and Friends.”
“[Because] there’s no way that she said this. And she actually did, and she even really doubled up, because it was said with such anger … such unbelievable anger,” he said.
“I think this is the biggest mistake of the political season. I really do,” Mr. Trump said. “When I saw this in its full form, and I saw the anger with which she said it … I think it’s the single biggest mistake of the political season.”
At a fundraiser last week, Mrs. Clinton had said half of Mr. Trump’s supporters are “irredeemable” and belong in a “basket of deplorables.” She later said she regretted using the word “half.”
Mr. Trump pointed out comparisons to 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” comments during that year’s race, when Mr. Romney said at a private event that nearly half of the country was likely to vote for President Obama no matter what and that a huge slice of the population depended on government and saw themselves as victims.
“Remember this: You’re going to be president — you’re president of all the people,” he said. “You’re not president of 50 percent, or 75 percent — you’re president of all the people. You’re president of everybody.”
“Somehow, it has to get out there that it’s not a certain group of people that’s going to be left behind,” Mr. Trump said. “You have to be president of everybody.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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