Hillary Clinton Says Donald Trump's Ideas 'Are Not So Different' From All Republican Candidates
Clinton responds to Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S.
— -- During a campaign event tonight, Hillary Clinton once again slammed Donald Trump for his latest proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States, but also continued to push forth her message that all of the other Republican candidates are not much different -- part of a larger Democratic strategy to contrast the two parties.
"Some of his Republican candidates are saying that his latest comments have gone too far,” Clinton said inside the gymnasium of a middle school in Salem, New Hampshire. "But the truth is, many of them have also said extreme things about Muslims. Their language may be more veiled than Trump’s, but their ideas are not so different.”
"They are all driving the exact narrative that Jihadists want to advance. That we are at war not with barbarous, violent, murderers but with an entire religion. This is a grave mistake,” she added.
Later in her riff on Trump tonight, Clinton circled back to her same message: "I noticed earlier today, Mr. Trump said something which unfortunately I think is true,” she said, to laughter, "Occasionally that happens -- rarely.”
"He said, ‘Oh yeah, that Republicans, they condemn me and then they move closer to me.’ So, we’re not only dealing with one inflammatory demagogue, we’re dealing with a party in danger of losing its way, of undermining the values that we have stood for,” she said.
This strategy is one that Clinton and the Democratic party have advanced throughout the day.
Earlier today, Clinton told the Concord Monitor that while Trump is the “principal practitioner” of this kind of rhetoric “I don’t think we can lay all of this at his feet.”
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest made a similar remark. "For Republican candidates for president to stand by their pledge to support Mr. Trump, that in and of itself is disqualifying,” he said.
Republican White House hopefuls have denounced Trump’s most recent proposals, calling it “a violation of our Constitution,” “wrong” and “impossible to enforce.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus today also released a statement condemning the plan, although he was criticized for waiting over 12 hours to do so. "I don't agree," Priebus said. "We need to aggressively take on radical Islamic terrorism but not at the expense of our American values."
At her campaign event tonight, Clinton also made a call for the U.S. to work with Muslims "across the country and the world.”
“The jihadists want nothing more than for this to be turned into a clash of civilizations: Islam against the West. It’s not a clash of civilizations, it’s a clash between civilization and barbarity,” she said, "We need everybody we can summon to this fight.”
Clinton’s top aide, Huma Abedin, who is Muslim, sent supporters an email today to fundraise off of Trump’s remarks by offering bumper stickers reading #LoveTrumpsHate.
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