Alfonse D'Amato

News flash: Deplorables vote, too!

Posted

Let’s talk about the “deplorables.”

At a recent fundraiser in New York City, Hillary Clinton told her audience that “you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.”

Needless to say, right now Hillary’s recent health scare is the least of her problems.

She went on to label supporters of Donald Trump “the racists and the haters and the people who are drawn because they think somehow he’s going to restore an America that no longer exists.”

This is quite a bold statement from the candidate who is the queen of the deplorables. The Clinton Foundation sold out our country to anyone and everyone with a checkbook, including taking tens of millions of dollars from countries like Saudi Arabia, which discriminate against the very people she claims she will protect: women, Christians, Jews, homosexuals and African-Americans.

You could compare the impact of Hillary’s statement to Mitt Romney’s gaffe about the “47 percent” shortly before the 2012 election. In a private setting, speaking about President Obama, Romney infamously claimed that there were “47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that 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. That’s an entitlement.”

The media lambasted Romney, calling him arrogant and out of touch.

The same can be said for Clinton, except, as is usual and customary, the media is giving her a pass. You see, she is “under the weather.”

Voters, wake up! Hillary’s statement is just another example of how out of touch she is with most Americans. Her words can easily be construed as hateful and condescending. They are also grossly hypocritical, given the fact that the Clinton Foundation regularly accepts contributions from countries that treat women horribly; don’t even tolerate, let alone legalize, homosexuality; and have severe restrictions on religious worship.

And who can forget Russia? The Democrats are, rightfully so, paranoid about Russia’s influence on our politics, but the Clintons loved Russia so much that they sold it our uranium. An article in The New York Times on April 23, 2015, showed just how much the Clinton Foundation benefited from Hillary’s role as secretary of state.

The article, “Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal,” pointed out that while Clinton headed the State Department, she allowed a Russian company to take control of ownership of 20 percent of our uranium. The same company donated tens of millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation.

Let the media tell their story. The polls show the reality: Her statements and actions are costing Clinton votes, especially among independents and undecided Republicans.

The latest Bloomberg poll shows Trump ahead by 5 points in Ohio. As I’ve mentioned before, no Republican has ever won the presidency without carrying Ohio. This is huge for the Trump campaign.

In Florida, another key battleground state, Trump is closing the gap. The latest CNN poll shows the two candidates even in the state, while several other polls show Trump holding a lead.

What is clear to me is that despite the fact that, overall, voters are not satisfied with either party’s choice, they do not trust Hillary Clinton.

In an attempt to save herself from further embarrassment on the “deplorables,” she expressed regret, saying that she was “grossly generalistic,” but went on to say, “I regret saying ‘half’ — that was wrong.”

That was hardly the apology many were hoping for. In fact, Clinton’s response made her and her team look weak and paranoid.

Trump’s vice presidential candidate, Mike Pence, fired back at Clinton, stating, “The men and women who support Donald Trump’s campaign are hardworking Americans, farmers, coal miners, teachers, veterans, members of law enforcement, members of every class of this country who know that we can make America great again.”

Pence is right. These people are the heart of America, and they certainly don’t believe that Hillary genuinely regrets mislabeling them. This issue, and the fact that no one believes her when she says she is in perfect health, are costing her dearly in the polls.

Al D’Amato, a former U.S. senator from New York, is the founder of Park Strategies LLC, a public policy and business development firm. Comments about this column? ADAmato@liherald.com.