Few things delight President Trump more than watching Democrats run away from Hillary Clinton.
And the president believes Republican candidates in this year’s midterm elections should put Democrats’ aversion for their party’s former standard-bearer to the test.
“Democrats never have been more vulnerable because they’ve lost touch with normal, everyday working people,” the president said at a GOP fundraising dinner Tuesday night. “Democrats haven’t learned. They still think the loyal citizens who care about jobs and borders and security are ’deplorable.’”
He was referring to Mrs. Clinton’s infamous remark during the 2016 campaign that half of Trump supporters belonged in a “basket of deplorables.”
The president noted that Mrs. Clinton stuck her foot in her mouth again this month during a trip to India, in which she said Mr. Trump’s campaign was “looking backwards.” She also said she lost the presidency partly because some women voters submit to their husband’s choice of candidate instead of voting their own mind.
“Her last statement about women — they have to get approval from their husbands, their sons, and their male bosses to vote for Trump. That was not a good statement,” Mr. Trump said to laughter and applause. “You notice how fast the Democrats have run from these statements now? They are disavowing those statements like I’ve never heard before. People that were her biggest supporters are now saying, ’What is she doing? Why doesn’t she just go home?’ But that was not a good statement.”
The Republican National Committee said Wednesday that Democratic senators running for re-election this year in states won by Mr. Trump in 2016 should explain “why they think the world of Clinton when she thinks so little of their constituents.”
The RNC said the pressure will be on Democratic Sens. Senator Jon Tester of Montana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Bill Nelson of Florida.
“Red-state Democrats must explain how they can reconcile boosting Clinton’s values and agenda when she imbues such belittling beliefs towards the very states they represent,” the RNC said.
Mr. Trump said Republicans know the truth about their base of supporters.
“The truth is that we are great patriots,” he said. “We come from every city, from every town, from every walk of life. We come from backgrounds, and it doesn’t matter the color, the creed. But we all have one thing in common: We love this country. And we’re putting the interests of our country and our people and our taxpayers — we’re putting them first.”
The midterm election, he said, “is not merely about which party is in charge in Congress.”
“It’s about whether the American people will be in charge of their government,” the president said.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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