Hillary Clinton’s renewed attack on Trump supporters, calling her infamous “basket of deplorables” remark “too kind,” seems to be purposefully deepening America’s already dangerous political divide, as a recent poll shows 85% of liberals ptrdict increased political violence if Trump wins again.
Hillary Clinton has revived her controversial “basket of deplorables” remark from the 2016 presidential campaign, a move that could further fracture an already deeply divided nation. In a Washington Post op-ed published this week, the former Secretary of State not only doubled down on her infamous characterization of some Trump supporters but argued that the term might be “too kind” for those she believes embody extremism and hatred.
Clinton’s comments come at a time when concerns about political violence are rising. According to a recent CBS News poll, 85% of liberals surveyed predict that political violence will increase if former President Donald Trump wins the 2024 election. This stark warning reflects the heightened anxieties across the political spectrum and underscores the fragility of the current political climate.
The op-ed, adapted from her upcoming book *Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty*, recounted Clinton’s reflections on the polarizing comment, which she initially made during a 2016 fundraiser. She described half of Trump’s supporters as “deplorables” drawn to what she saw as his appeals to racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of bigotry. The statement became a lightning rod for criticism and, for many, a symbol of the growing chasm in American politics.
“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,” Clinton wrote. “It was an unfortunate choice of words and bad politics, but it also got at an important truth.”
Clinton argued that events since the 2016 election — from the Charlottesville rally to the January 6 Capitol riot — have only reinforced her belief that the term “deplorable” may understate the level of hatred and violence she attributes to some Trump supporters.
“The masks have come off, and if anything, ‘deplorable’ is too kind a word for the hate and violent extremism we’ve seen from some Trump supporters,” she continued.
Clinton also addressed the most contentious part of her original comment, where she described some of Trump’s followers as “irredeemable” and “not part of America.” She admitted that a part of her still believes this to be true but acknowledged the difficulty of balancing that view with the Christian call for empathy and forgiveness.
“Talking about the ‘deplorables’ in 2016, I said, ‘Some of those folks, they are irredeemable.’ Part of me would still say this is objectively true. Just look at the lack of remorse from many of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists who’ve been convicted of sedition and other crimes,” she wrote. “But another part of me wants to believe something else. I’d like to believe there’s goodness in everyone and a chance at redemption, no matter how remote.”
Her decision to revisit the “deplorables” comment, however, has already sparked intense backlash and risks exacerbating the existing political and social divisions in the country. Clinton’s call for the “formal deprogramming” of what she described as “MAGA cult members” in 2023 drew accusations from conservatives of advocating for reeducation camps or authoritarian tactics, adding fuel to an already volatile political environment.
“There needs to be a formal deprogramming of the cult members,” Clinton told CNN in 2023. “So many of those extremists, those MAGA extremists, take their marching orders from Donald Trump, who has no credibility left by any measure.”
Republicans and conservative commentators were quick to condemn her latest remarks, suggesting that she is continuing a pattern of denigrating Trump supporters and deepening the national divide. Critics argue that such rhetoric alienates a significant portion of the electorate and risks making any chance of bridging the nation’s political gap even more elusive.
As Clinton once again finds herself at the center of a heated national debate, her comments are likely to resonate with her supporters while further inflaming tensions with her detractors. Whether this will lead to meaningful dialogue or merely entrench both sides further into their respective corners remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that her words have the potential to deepen the divisions in an already fractured country, especially as concerns about political violence loom large in the minds of many Americans.
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