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Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump trade accusations of bigotry on campaign trail

By Eric DuVall
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton traded accusations of bigotry on the campaign trail, with each charging the other has mistreated minorities. UPI file photos
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton traded accusations of bigotry on the campaign trail, with each charging the other has mistreated minorities. UPI file photos

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Hillary Clinton on Thursday delivered an angry rebuke of Donald Trump for embracing an "alt-right" agenda she said is a new label for the "bigoted" and "paranoid" views held by fringe conservatives and white supremacists.

Clinton's remarks came a day after Trump leveled the same charge at Clinton, calling her a "bigot" for taking black and Hispanic voters for granted while failing to address the problems plaguing many inner cities.

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Clinton took aim at Trump's Twitter posts, where on multiple occasions he has retweeted white supremacists and graphics originating on anti-Semitic websites.

Charging Trump has "taken hate groups mainstream," Clinton said. "It's like nothing we've heard before from a nominee for president."

She also criticized his new campaign CEO Steve Bannon, who was formerly the chief executive of the conservative website Breitbart, a leader of the alt-right's anti-establishment movement. Clinton said the Breitbart website promoted sexism and stoked racial divisions in the wake of the Charleston, S.C., church shooting where the suspect is a white supremacist.

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"The de facto merger between Breitbart and the Trump campaign represents a landmark achievement for this group, taking over the Republican Party," Clinton said to supporters in Reno, Nev.

Trump made his own pitch to minorities in a speech in Jackson, Miss., on Wednesday night. Trump accused Clinton of exploiting minorities for political advantage.

"Hillary Clinton is a bigot who sees people of color only as votes, not as human beings worthy of a better future," Trump said. "She doesn't care what her policies have done to your communities. She has no remorse. She's going to do nothing for Hispanics and African-Americans."

Trump said the problems of drug abuse, violent crime and failing schools in many black and Hispanic communities have been ignored by Democrats for years.

"You're living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58% of your youth is unemployed -- what the hell do you have to lose?" Trump asked.

Clinton responded to that remark Thursday, dismissing Trump's recent efforts to win over minority voters.

"It really does take a lot of nerve to ask people he's ignored and mistreated for decades 'what do you have to lose?' Because the answer is 'everything.'"

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Clinton mentioned Trump's history as a real estate developer and casino magnate for allegations he mistreated residents and employees who were black. Trump was sued by the Justice Department in the 1980s -- a case that was ultimately settled -- for allegedly refusing to rent to black tenants. The Justice Department alleged Trump's rental agents marked black tenant applications, "'C' -- for colored," Clinton said. "They were later denied."

She also said state regulators in New Jersey flagged a Trump-owned casino for removing black dealers from the casino floor more frequently than white dealers and, she charged, the turnover rate among minority workers at the casino was higher than the state average.

Trump, Clinton said, "has a long history of racial stereotypes and conspiracy theories drawn from supermarket tabloids and the dark reaches of the Internet."

She criticized him for his appearance on the show of Alex Jones, a conservative radio host who has said he believes the government perpetrated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Oklahoma City bombing and faked the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

"Trump doesn't challenge these lies. He actually went on Jones' show and said 'your reputation is amazing,'" she said.

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Clinton also addressed recent implications by Trump and others that she is suffering from some debilitating medical condition, after he said she "doesn't have the stamina" to serve as president.

"His latest paranoid fever dream is about my health. And all I can say is, Donald, dream on."

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