Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) slammed Hillary Clinton for caustic remarks she made about President Donald Trump and his voters in India last week, saying Sunday she was "wrong" and her remarks were "not helpful at all."
Clinton, who has laid blame on a variety of factors for her loss in the 2016 election, tore into the middle of the country while calling her voters representative of places that were "optimistic" and "diverse."
"All that red in the middle, where Trump won, what the map doesn't show you is that I won the places that represent two-thirds of America's gross domestic product. So I won the places that are optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward," she said. "And his whole campaign, 'Make America Great Again,' was looking backwards. You know, you didn't like black people getting rights, you don't like women, you know, getting jobs, you don't want to, you know, see that Indian-American succeeding more than you are, whatever your problem is, I'm going to solve it."
"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace played the remark and asked Durbin if would be helpful to Democrats in 2018 to "dismiss" Trump voters as racists and misogynists. Trump won several states, including Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa and Pennsylvania, that Barack Obama won in 2008 and 2012.
"No, it's not helpful at all," Durbin said. "In fact, my friend Hillary Clinton is wrong. Thirty percent of the people who voted for Donald Trump had voted for President Obama. Why? The same people who looked for change with President Obama thought there wasn't enough as far as their personal lives were concerned, and they supported Donald Trump.
"That is a reality the Democrats acknowledge. That's why we are focusing on issues to address this concern they have about the economic insecurity that many working families face. I can tell you a tax bill that gave tax breaks to the wealthiest people in America under the Republicans and President Trump is not responsive to that concern."
Senate Democrats facing re-election battles in states Trump won in 2016 ripped Clinton for the remarks last week, including Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D., N.D.), who said Clinton couldn't go away "soon enough."
"Is she right, and should Hillary Clinton go away?" Wallace asked.
"Well, I can tell you, Hillary Clinton, like every American, has the right to express her point of view, and she obviously gets press coverage, but we're moving on to the next chapter of American history," Durbin said. "We have a new Democratic leadership, and more people aspiring to be a candidate in 2020. It'll be a different cast of characters completely."