According to Breitbart News, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has reignited controversy surrounding her infamous "basket of deplorables" comment from 2016.
In a recent Washington Post op-ed, Clinton revisited her contentious statement about Trump supporters, asserting that "deplorable" might be "too kind a word" for some of former President Donald Trump's most ardent followers.
The piece, adapted from her upcoming book "Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty," delves into Clinton's reflections on the divisive remark she made during her 2016 presidential campaign.
Clinton's op-ed uses her encounter with a former white supremacist, now working to deprogram individuals leaving hate groups, as a springboard to discuss her "deplorables" comment.
She maintains that while her choice of words was politically unwise, it highlighted an "important truth" about certain segments of Trump's support base.
Clinton elaborated on her original statement, explaining that she was referring to individuals drawn to Trump's perceived bigotry. She wrote:
In 2016, I famously described half of Trump's supporters as 'the basket of deplorables.' I was talking about the people who are drawn to his racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia — you name it. The people for whom his bigotry is a feature, not a bug.
The former presidential candidate pointed to events such as the Charlottesville rally and the January 6 Capitol riot as evidence supporting her characterization of some Trump supporters.
Clinton acknowledged the controversy surrounding her use of the term "irredeemable" to describe certain Trump supporters.
While maintaining that part of her still believes this to be "objectively true," she also expressed a desire to believe in the potential for redemption in everyone.
Clinton's op-ed represents a shift from her previous stance on the "deplorables" comment. In 2016, she issued a statement describing the remark as "grossly generalistic" but stopped short of offering an apology.
The former Secretary of State's recent comments align with her 2023 statement calling for "formal deprogramming" of MAGA "cult members." This rhetoric has drawn sharp criticism from Republicans and conservatives, with some accusing Clinton of advocating for re-education camps for Trump supporters.
Clinton's op-ed attempts to strike a balance between reaffirming her criticism of certain Trump supporters and expressing a desire for empathy.
She writes about the challenge of extending empathy to those with whom one deeply disagrees, framing it as an aspiration rooted in her Christian faith.
Hillary Clinton's recent op-ed has reignited debate over her 2016 "basket of deplorables" comment. She maintains that the term may be insufficient to describe some Trump supporters, citing events like the Capitol riot as evidence. Clinton's reflection on the comment and her discussion of empathy and redemption add a new dimension to the ongoing political discourse surrounding Trump's base.
