Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is under fire and has expressed regret for part of a statement she made about GOP nominee Donald Trump's supporters during a fundraiser on Friday.
Here is a full transcript of her remarks in New York City, with the controversial portion in bold:
"Thank you all so much. Wow. Thank you. Thank you. It's sort of like the seventh inning stretch. Thank you all. You know, I've been saying at events like this lately, I am all that stands between you and the apocalypse. Tonight, I'm all that stands between a much better outcome! I want to thank Laverne [Cox] for being here at her first political event. Her endorsement, her strong words, her passion, her example, her advocacy on behalf of the transgender community, particularly transgender women of color, is just so extraordinary, and I love the way she wove in so many of the issues that are up for grabs in this election."
"I think we know what we're up against. We do, don't we? Donald Trump has pledged to appoint Supreme Court justices who will overturn marriage equality, and if you have read about the ones he says he's likely to support, he's not kidding. In fact, if you look at his running mate, his running mate signed a law that would have allowed businesses to discriminate against LGBT Americans. And there's so much more than I find deplorable in his campaign: the way that he cozies up to white supremacists, makes racist attacks, calls women pigs, mocks people with disabilities -- you can't make this up. He wants to round up and deport 16 million people, calls our military a disaster. And every day he says something else which I find so personally offensive, but also dangerous. You know, the idea of our country is so rooted in continuing progress that we make together. Our campaign slogan is not just words. We really do believe that we are stronger together. We really do believe that showing respect and appreciation for one another lifts us all up."
"And it's a special commitment that I feel to continuing to fight alongside the LGBT community. Because this is one of the continuing struggles. We're filled in this great hall in Cipriani tonight with successful people, raising your glow sticks, thank you so much for contributing a little bit more to get the campaign over the finish line. But somewhere right now in this city is a kid has been kicked out of his house. Somewhere not far from here, maybe a suburb or across state lines, is a young girl who is just not sure what her future holds because she just doesn't feel like she's herself and no one understands that. Some kid getting off the bus at the Port Authority and somebody's waiting to take advantage of that scared but brave kid looking for a different life and a future that actually belongs to him or her."
"We still have a lot of work to do. And if you think of the work we have to do in our own country, it pales in comparison to the work we have to do around the world. And I'm grateful that in this room are so many people who have broken down barriers, stood up to discrimination and bigotry, fought for the rights of everyone. I was in North Carolina just yesterday and I told them, it's not only that discrimination is wrong. It's bad for business. That state which was led down a pathway of discrimination is seeing the results -- losing jobs, losing the NBA all-star game. Who wants to be associated with a governor and a legislature who set out to hurt the people they're supported to be representing and protecting?"
"In too many places still, LGBT Americans are singled out for harassment and violence. You can get married on Saturday, post your pictures on Sunday and get fired on Monday. That's why we've got to continue the forward march of progress."
"And we cannot do it alone. I cannot do it alone. I'm not like Donald Trump, who says, 'I alone can fix it.' I've never quite figured out what it is he alone can fix. But that's not what you'll hear from me. I think we have to do this together. So, together we're gonna pass the Equality Act to guarantee full equality. We're going to put comprehensive quality affordable healthcare within reach for more people, including for mental health and addiction. We're going to take on youth homelessness, and as my wonderful, extraordinary, great daughter said, we are going to end the cruel and dangerous practice of conversion therapy. We're going to keep working toward an AIDS-free generation, a goal that I set as secretary of State, and with your help we're going to pass comprehensive gun laws...."
"I know there are only 60 days left to make our case -- and don't get complacent, don't see the latest outrageous, offensive, inappropriate comment and think, well, he's done this time. We are living in a volatile political environment. You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic -- you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people -- now 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric. Now, some of those folks -- they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America."
Isn't it disgraceful that Hillary Clinton makes the worst mistake of the political season and instead of owning up to this grotesque attack on American voters, she tries to turn it around with a pathetic rehash of the words and insults used in her failing campaign?
And here's Hillary Clinton's response.
Republicans on Saturday seized upon a remark Hillary Clinton made that called half of Donald Trump’s supporters “deplorables,” arguing that it is a slander similar to one made by 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney that dogged him in the final weeks of the campaign.
Though Clinton’s comment was incendiary and she apologized Saturday for making generalizations about so many of Trump's supporters, it is different from Romney's so-called 47% remark for several notable reasons.
Romney was recorded on video saying at a fundraiser that 47% of Americans would automatically vote for President Obama because they were dependent upon government and paid no taxes, and that his job was not to worry about them. There was an immediate uproar that he was denigrating almost half the nation, including veterans and seniors.
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.
Hillary Clinton expressed "regret" on Saturday for her remarks a day earlier in which she described half of Donald Trump's supporters as "a basket of deplorables."
"Last night I was 'grossly generalistic,' " Clinton said in a statement, using some of the language she noted in her remarks at a gala in Manhattan on Friday. "And that's never a good idea. I regret saying 'half' — that was wrong."
Still, Clinton went on to assail Trump's "deplorable" rhetoric, noting, among other things, his public criticism of a family whose son was killed in Iraq and the occasions the billionaire businessman has retweeted social media users with ties to white supremacist groups.
Even as she's hurled criticism after criticism at Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton has avoided slamming his fans.
But that changed Friday night.
During brief remarks at the LGBT for Hillary Gala in lower Manhattan, Clinton called "half" of those supporting the Republican nominee a "basket of deplorables."
At a gala for Hillary Clinton in Manhattan on Friday night, entertainer Barbra Streisand sang a special song for Donald Trump.
Streisand, 74, performed a parody of the hit song "Send in the Clowns" with special lyrics for the Republican nominee.
Below are a few excerpts: