Trump celebrates anniversary of Clinton's 'basket of deplorables' comment
President Trump spent Sunday morning chastising his most prominent political opponents and boasting about the American economy’s current buoyancy.
Trump shared a video on Twitter of Hillary Clinton famously dismissing half of his supporters as bigots who could be categorized as what she called “the basket of deplorables.”
Happy Anniversary! #ProudDeplorable pic.twitter.com/iHyeu5a8DD
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2018
“Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it,” Clinton said at a fundraising gala in New York City on Sept. 9, 2016.
Trump’s new video then cuts to a rally at which the president embraced the phrase “proud deplorable” as a way to capitalize on what he would consider the political elite’s contempt.
“Your voice will never ever be ignored again. They’re all going to be coming after you from now on in this country,” Trump told supporters in the clip. “I took this job on behalf of the forgotten men and women of this country. But guess what? They are forgotten no more. Your dreams are my dreams. Your hopes are my hopes.”
Trump further aligned himself with Americans who feel belittled and mocked by the political establishment by retweeting a video, which is popular among his supporters, of Obama making fun of Trump on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” — and suggesting he would never become president — juxtaposed against CNN’s coverage of Trump’s upset on election night.
— Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) September 9, 2018
These jabs at Clinton and Obama were followed by tweets about Trump’s hardball tactics with China to protect U.S. manufacturing. He boasted that the Ford Motor Company killed a plan to sell the Focus Active, a Chinese-made small vehicle, in the U.S. at the prospect of higher U.S. tariffs because of Trump’s trade war with China.
“Ford has abruptly killed a plan to sell a Chinese-made small vehicle in the U.S. because of the prospect of higher U.S. Tariffs.” CNBC. This is just the beginning. This car can now be BUILT IN THE U.S.A. and Ford will pay no tariffs!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2018
If the U.S. sells a car into China, there is a tax of 25%. If China sells a car into the U.S., there is a tax of 2%. Does anybody think that is FAIR? The days of the U.S. being ripped-off by other nations is OVER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2018
“Trump has set Economic Growth on fire. During his time in office, the economy has achieved feats most experts thought impossible. GDP is growing at a 3 percent-plus rate. The unemployment rate is near a 50 year low.” CNBC…Also, the Stock Market is up almost 50% since Election!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2018
Ford responded to Trump’s tweet with a statement to Reuters that the Focus Active is not built in the United States because its expected annual sales are fewer than 50,000. The company also expressed pride in employing more hourly workers and building more vehicles in the United States than any other automobile manufacturer.
On Friday, Obama delivered a speech at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign urging young people to vote. Although Obama’s assessment of Republicans and Trump received the most attention, the former president also criticized Democratic tactics that rely too heavily on identity politics.
Obama said the notion that Democrats need to choose between trying to appeal to white working-class voters or people of color and LGBT Americans is nonsense.
“And we won’t win people over by calling them names or dismissing entire chunks of the country as racist or sexist or homophobic,” Obama said. “When I say bring people together, I mean all of our people.”
He reminded listeners that his presidential campaigns were successful because they fought for “every vote” and competed “everywhere” — implying that Clinton should have focused more attention on states like Michigan.
“And we can’t do that if we immediately disregard what others have to say from the start because they’re not like us, because they’re white or they’re black or they’re a man or a woman or they’re gay or they’re straight.”
Voters in the Rust Belt who shifted from Democratic to Republican in recent years have consistently attributed the change to economic uncertainty and feeling left behind in the new global economy.
In his speech, Obama said the concerns of white, rural Americans and the African-American community are not mutually exclusive, and he suggested that Democrats cannot dismiss the former if they expect to be successful in future elections.
“I know there are white people who care deeply about black people being treated unfairly,” Obama said. “I have talked to them and loved them, and I know there are black people who care deeply about the struggles of white, rural America. I’m one of them.”
____
Read more from Yahoo News:
Omarosa says she’s ready to testify at Trump’s impeachment trial
House intel panel Democrat: Trump collusion with Russia ‘is well established’
Unborkable: Kavanaugh heads into confirmation hearings on cruise control
Former presidents pay homage as McCain takes his place in history
Cory Booker is on the campaign trail, but not in the way you might think
