Wednesday at the CNN Democratic presidential debate, candidate Hillary Clinton declared Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as “un-American” for what she deemed to be “trafficking in prejudice and paranoia.”
CLINTON: I’m going to follow my friend Senator Sanders’ model here. If I’m so fortunate enough to be the Democratic nominee, there will be a lot of time to talk about him. I was the first one to call him out. I called him out when he was calling Mexicans rapists, when he was engaging in rhetoric that I found deeply offensive. I said before, and I am pleased that others — others are also joining in making clear that his rhetoric, his demagoguery, his trafficking in prejudice and paranoia has no place in our political system. especially from somebody running for president who couldn’t decide whether or not to disavow the Ku Klux Klan and David Duke. So, people can draw their own conclusions about him. But I will just end by saying this—you don’t make America great by getting rid of everything that made America great.
MODERATOR: Secretary Clinton — Secretary Clinton, my question was about his character. And that is one of the primary things that Americans think about when they choose their next president. How would you describe the character of a person who has said the sorts of things he has about Mexican immigrants, about women, and who would ban people from entering this country based on their religion?
CLINTON: I think it’s un-American. I think what he has promoted is not at all in keeping with American values, and I am going to take every opportunity to criticize him, to raise those issues. I’m not going to engage in the kind of language that he uses. I think we can make the case against him, if he is the nominee, by pointing out what he has said, what he claims to believe in. the values he’s promoting, and I think that’s a better way for the American people to draw their conclusions.
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