Eliza Collins

USA TODAY

Donald Trump tried to flip the narrative on Thursday, saying Hillary Clinton's attempt to associate him with the alt-right is shameful, and by doing so she is calling average Americans racists.

"What does she do when she can’t defend her record?" Trump asked the crowd during a rally in Manchester, N.H. on Thursday afternoon. "She lies, and she smears, and she paints decent Americans — you — as racists."

"It’s the oldest play in the Democratic playbook," he added.

Trump's comments came just before Clinton's speech in Reno, Nev., focused on tying Trump to the alt-right movement. Her campaign came out with an ad earlier Thursday highlighting Ku Klux Klan members and white nationalists who support the Republican nominee.

“The reason a lot of Klan members like Donald Trump is because a lot of what he believes, we believe in,” a KKK Imperial Wizard says at the beginning of the ad.

Other clips follow with white nationalists saying they support Trump.

“Voting against Donald Trump, at this point, is really treason to your heritage,” former KKK grand wizard David Duke says.

Then a clip of Trump being interviewed on CNN plays. In the interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Trump declined to condemn Duke (later in the week, he did disavow him).

The ad then switches focus to Trump’s new campaign CEO, Breitbart executive Stephen Bannon, and his website — which a reporter in the clip describes as: “A campaign chair that ran a website that has become a field day for the alt-right which is racist and all sorts of other ‘ists.’ ”

“If Trump wins they could be running the country,” the text on the screen reads.

The Trump campaign issued a statement after the ad came out from campaign surrogate Mark Burns, an African-American pastor, calling it a "new low" and "horrific."

"Hillary Clinton and her campaign went to a disgusting new low today as they released a video tying the Trump Campaign with horrific racial images. This type of rhetoric and repulsive advertising is revolting and completely beyond the pale," Burns said in the statement sent to USA TODAY. "I call on Hillary Clinton to disavow this video and her campaign for this sickening act that has no place in our world."