Hillary Clinton reacts to cheers from the crowd as she takes the stage in Manchester, New Hampshire, Sept. 19, 2015. (Photo: Brian Snyder/Reuters)



Hillary Clinton was on the warpath against the Republican presidential candidates during her speech at the 2015 New Hampshire Democratic Party State Convention Saturday.

The former secretary of state accused GOP frontrunner Donald Trump of blatantly peddling bigotry and fear this summer during a campaign that upended politics as usual.

“Don’t be distracted by their flamboyant frontrunner, trying to bully and buy his way into the presidency,” Clinton told the crowd. “His latest outrage, the way he handled the question about President Obama, was shocking but not surprising. He’s been trafficking in prejudice and paranoia throughout this campaign.”

Clinton was referring to Trump’s decision not to correct one of his supporters — who erroneously claimed Thursday night that Obama, a Christian from Hawaii, is a Muslim from another nation — and also to the businessman’s strong stance on immigration.

But, she argued, the other GOP candidates’ policies reveal that they are essentially the same as Trump, just “without the pizzazz or the hair.” Whereas he says “hateful things about immigrants,” according to Clinton, Trump’s rivals do not support “any real path to citizenship.”

Supporters of Hillary Clinton cheer during the New Hampshire Democratic Party State Convention in Manchester. (Photo: Brian Snyder/Reuters)



“Who watched the Republican debates the other night? Oh, you gluttons for punishment, you,” she said to laughter. “Fifteen candidates. Five hours. Not a single fighter for the middle class. And the fact-checkers are having a field day with their answers.”

Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, called the Republican candidates “deeply out of touch and out of date,” attacking them for not discussing college tuition, climate change, family leave, gun violence, the black lives matter movement or other issues liberals tend to prioritize.

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Trump, who has repeatedly called Clinton the worst secretary of state in the nation’s history, is far from the only Republican gunning for Clinton. She was criticized plenty of times throughout CNN’s GOP debates Wednesday night — for everything from supporting Planned Parenthood to voting for the Iraq War.

“There was one statement I had to agree with. Hard to believe, right? As Lindsey Graham said, ‘Hillary Clinton has a list a mile long to help the middle class,’” Clinton said, laughing. “Well, he’s right about that! He’s absolutely right about that! It was the most honest thing anyone said that night.”

The pool of Democratic candidates is much smaller than the Republicans’: Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb are also competing for the party’s nod.

Through grassroots passion, Sanders, a self-identified democratic socialist, has managed to surge past Clinton in the Live Free or Die state, according to several polls.

