Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin rebuked Hillary Clinton on Sunday for grousing about the voters who propelled Donald Trump to victory in the 2016 presidential election, saying she is “wrong” and “not helpful at all.”
“No, it’s not helpful at all,” Durbin of Illinois said on “Fox News Sunday.” “In fact, my friend Hillary Clinton is wrong. Thirty percent of the people who voted for Donald Trump had voted for President Obama. Why? The same people who looked for change with President Obama thought there wasn’t enough as far as their personal lives were concerned, and they supported Donald Trump. ”
At a conference last week in India, Clinton, in comments similar to her cringe-worthy “deplorables” remarks during the 2016 campaign, said she won the “diverse, dynamic, moving forward” sections of the American electorate in contrast to Trump.
“And his whole campaign, ‘Make America Great Again,’ was looking backwards,” she said. “You know, you didn’t like black people getting rights, you don’t like women, you know, getting jobs, you don’t want to, you know, see that Indian-American succeeding more than you are, whatever your problem is, I’m going to solve it.”
Republicans and the Trump administration quickly jumped on her remarks to show how out of touch she is with Americans.
Durbin said it doesn’t help Democrats running in the 2018 mid-term elections to be spurn voters who went for Trump in areas that President Obama won in 2008 and 2012 — including Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
“That is a reality the Democrats acknowledge. That’s why we are focusing on issues to address this concern they have about the economic insecurity that many working families face,” Durbin said on Fox. “I can tell you a tax bill that gave tax breaks to the wealthiest people in America under the Republicans and President Trump is not responsive to that concern.”
Other Democrats have heaped criticism on Clinton for her comments, as well.
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, who’s running for re-election in North Dakota, a state Trump won in 2016, said it’s time for Clinton to step off the political stage.
Asked during an interview last week when Clinton should “ride off into the sunset,” Heitkamp said: “Not soon enough.”