Hillary Clinton expressed "regret" on Saturday for her remarks a day earlier in which she described half of Donald Trump's supporters as "a basket of deplorables."
"Last night I was 'grossly generalistic,'" Clinton said in a statement, using some of the language she noted in her remarks at a gala in Manhattan on Friday. "And that's never a good idea. I regret saying 'half' _ that was wrong."
Still, Clinton went on to assail Trump's "deplorable" rhetoric, noting, among other things, his public criticism of a family whose son was killed in Iraq and the occasions the billionaire businessman has retweeted social media users with ties to white supremacist groups.
During her remarks on Friday, Clinton added, that the other half of Trump supporters just want better jobs and more economic stability.
"Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well," she said.
Still, Republicans on Saturday piled on Clinton for her remarks.
Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager, called on Clinton to apologize for her remarks. Meanwhile, Trump, who attended the funeral of conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly on Saturday, tweeted that he was insulted.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, speaking before attendees at the Value Voters Summit in Washington, said Trump supporters are not "a basket of anything," adding, they are "members of every class of this country who know that we can make America great again."
"The men and women who support Donald Trump's campaign are hard-working Americans: farmers, coal miners, teachers, veterans, members of our law enforcement community," he said.
