WASHINGTON – Dropping in the polls and failing to perform up to expectations in her first major media test since the Democratic convention, Hillary Clinton tried a new approach to wooing support for her campaign for the presidency Friday by attacking, not Donald Trump, but rather his supporters.

She told 1,000 lesbian, "gay," bisexual and transgender donors in New York that half of Trump supporters hold hateful views that put them in a "basket of deplorables," calling them "irredeemable."

"You could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right," Clinton said, drawing laughter and applause as she addressed about 1,000 donors at an LGBT for Hillary fundraising gala in New York City, "The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic – you name it." Adding that Trump had "given voice" to many of those elements through his campaign rhetoric and retweets, she continued that, "some of those folks – they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America."

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The other half of Trump supporters, she said, fall into the category of alienated by economic instability and government dysfunction and are desperate for change, after eight years under the presidency of Democrat Barack Obama.

"Those are the people we have to understand and empathize with as well," she said.

The latest national polls show the election too close to call with Trump rising.

His campaign called the comments part of the "politics of division."

Even some Democrats saw it as a mistake, given Trump commands the support of some 50 million voters.

While most of the Clinton campaign has been devoted to creating negative views of Trump, this new turn focuses on his supporters, which is being questioned in such a tight race.

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Trump's campaign released a statement early Saturday accusing Clinton of dishonoring the "everyday Americans" backing Trump.

"Just when Hillary Clinton said she was going to start running a positive campaign, she ripped off her mask and revealed her true contempt for everyday Americans," said Trump spokesman Jason Miller. "And what's truly deplorable isn't just that Hillary Clinton made an inexcusable mistake in front of wealthy donors and reporters happened to be around to catch it, it's that Clinton revealed just how little she thinks of the hard-working men and women of America."

Trump himself took to Twitter Saturday saying: "Wow, Hillary Clinton was SO INSULTING to my supporters, millions of amazing, hard working people. I think it will cost her at the polls!"

Clinton campaign spokesman Nick Merrill took to Twitter to perform damage control saying she was only referring to attendees at Trump rallies, not all of his supporters.

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