The Basket Case: Deplorable vs. 47%

Half of Trump’s supporters are a “basket of deplorables… they’re racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it,” Hillary Rodham Clinton grossly generalized at a fundraiser on Friday. The other half of Trump supporters, she asserted, fall into a basket of those “who feel that government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them.”

Interestingly she did basically the same thing that Republican candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney did four years ago when he made his infamous 47 percent comment at a private fundraiser.

At the fundraiser he said that “there are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president (Obama) no matter what… who are dependent upon government, who believe they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it.” He went on to emphasize that “these are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax.”

The context in which Romney made those remarks was strategic in nature. In answering a question he was explaining that since his message of low taxes doesn’t connect with the 47 percent, why worry about them, let’s focus on getting through to independents who actually give their votes some serious thought. In fact, everything he said was factual. It was the perception people had that he was trashing a whole demographic as being lazy, entitled people who just want freebies, however, that became a black eye for his campaign and arguably helped him lose the election.

The context in which Clinton made her remarks is more sinister in nature. She came right out candidly and attacked Trump supporters as being some of the ugliest subhumans alive. In an earlier interview for Israeli TV she described a portion of Trump supporters as disenfranchised voters who wish for an America that no longer exists.

The difference between the two scenarios is that Romney made his remarks based on facts. Hillary has essentially classified all Trump supporters into one of two “baskets” and can’t prove what she alleges. There’s an argument that can be made as to whether or not she slandered a group of people. There’s no slander if remarks made are factual, but there is when allegations made are derogatory and can’t be proven.

Will the media give her a pass on this or will they just carry on the double-standard that is so blatantly obvious? Although she has since apologized for using the word “half,” she doesn’t seem to regret saying what she did because she believes she can explain away anything and put a positive spin on it. Only time will tell if any of her Democratic colleagues admonish her for the ugly things she said in her speech and in the interview she gave.

It’s one thing to point out the correlation that 47 percent of people who receive government assistance will vote for Obama and quite another to group all Trump supporters together as either hateful bigots or miserable ne’er-do-wells.

 

Tom Folden is a political strategist, conservative thinker, and Editor-at-Large of RightWingWriter.com, a website for conservative viewpoints. An original participant in the Tea Party, he takes part in pro-America rallies when his time permits. He is also a singer/songwriter and recording artist. For interviews and/or appearances, please contact him at spencergroup@hotmail.com.

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