Trump releases new ad hitting Clinton for 'deplorables' remark

Donald Trump released a new television ad attacking Hillary Clinton’s gaffe that grouped half of the Republican nominee’s supporters into a “basket of deplorables.”

The 30-second spot, which Trump’s campaign circulated over email on Monday morning, is set to run in the battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida, and is targeted at the supporters he says Clinton demonized.


“Speaking to wealthy donors, Hillary Clinton called tens of millions of Americans 'deplorable,'” the spot starts, before cutting away to Clinton’s remarks on Friday calling out Trump fans as “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and Islamaphobic.”

“People like you, you and you, deplorable,” it continued, panning to attendees at Trump’s presidential rallies. “You know what’s deplorable? Hillary Clinton viciously demonizing hard working people like you,” it concludes.

Trump’s campaign said the ad is “a response to the incredibly offensive comments Hillary Clinton made last Friday in front of reporters and her wealthy donor friends, and serves as a call to action for the tens of millions of hard working Americans she viciously demonized - to stand united against the Clinton-led rigged Washington system.”

Those four states where the ad is set to run have accounted for most of the Trump campaign’s advertising thus far. Since going on the air in mid-August, Trump has spent nearly two-thirds of his overall advertising dollars in Florida ($3.7 million), North Carolina ($1.8 million), Ohio ($1.9 million) and Pennsylvania ($2 million).

But it’s also been nearly a week since Trump has advertised in these states. His last advertising flight ended last Tuesday in Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania — and his Ohio advertising concludes next Wednesday.

As of mid-morning, Trump had begun placing ads in North Carolina, though the extent of the new advertising is still unclear. Trump’s campaign did not announce how much it would spend on the new spot, which will begin airing on Monday, running for five days.

Steven Shepard contributed to this story.