Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton attended a fundraiser in New York this past Friday. Clinton declared, “You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the ‘basket of deplorables.’ Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic — you name it. And unfortunately, there are people like that, and he has lifted them up.” Meanwhile, laughter and applause arose from the audience.
The next day, Trump delivered a statement regarding Clinton’s report stating her “true feelings” had come out. “How can she be President of our country when she has such contempt and disdain for so many great Americans?” “Hillary Clinton should be ashamed of herself.
Trump delivered a tweet the day after Clinton’s “deplorable” comment.
Many Trump supporters are embracing and mocking Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” comment. Several retailers are seizing this moment by selling “deplorables” merchandise such as t-shirts and coffee mugs. A popular meme is circulating around the internet replacing the 2010 movie cast of “The Expendables” with prominent and conservative figures in the Trump campaign as “The Deplorables.” For those of you who have never seen “The Expendables” film series, the storyline is about a team of elite individuals who accomplish dangerous missions. Some would describe these duties and operations as not being formally approved by the United States government.
Members of “The Deplorables” cast include Trump alongside Ben Carson, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, conservative journalist Milo Yiannopoulos and Trump’s son Donald Jr. Also included in “The Deplorables” cast are conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and a cartoon character called Pepe the Frog. This particular cartoon is a mascot who is associated with an online nationalist alt-right movement. Trump’s oldest son Donald Trump Jr. posted this picture on his Instagram account representing “The Deplorables.”