BALTIMORE _ Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump criticized Democrat Hillary Clinton at length on Monday for saying that half of his supporters are a "basket of deplorables," telling an audience in Baltimore that the remark "disqualifies her from public service."
Less than two months from Election Day, Trump told members of the National Guard Association of the United States at the Baltimore Convention Center that he was "deeply shocked and alarmed" by Clinton's characterization of his supporters _ remarks she made on Friday and then said on Saturday she regretted.
"Our support comes from every part of America, and every walk of life," Trump said. "She divides people into baskets as though they were objects, not human beings.
"If Hillary Clinton will not retract her comments in full, then I don't see how she can credibly campaign," he said.
A spokeswoman for Clinton's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump is making his first appearance as the Republican nominee in deeply Democratic Maryland. His address, which included repeated assertions that he would increase spending for the military, was clearly aimed at a national audience.
The visit follows a challenging weekend for Clinton's campaign. First came her comments Friday at a fundraiser in New York.
"To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables," Clinton said. "Right? Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it.
"And unfortunately, there are people like that and he has lifted them up," she added. "He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people, now have 11 million. He tweets and retweets offensive, hateful, mean-spirited rhetoric."
On Saturday, the Democrat said she regretted the characterization. On Sunday, she abruptly left a Sept. 11 memorial service and appeared unsteady on her feet as she was helped into a van.
Her campaign later said Clinton was suffering from pneumonia, and she canceled a trip to California on Monday. A spokesman said he expects Clinton will be back on the campaign trail by midweek.
Trump did not raise Clinton's health during his address. And both campaigns said Friday they would release more detailed medical records in coming days.
Trump's address to present and former National Guard officers was closed to the public. His supporters and protesters rallied outside the event.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the Democratic nominee for Maryland's open Senate seat, and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of Baltimore held a news conference outside City Hall.
"We are talking about a person who says that our military is a disaster," Van Hollen said. "It is not the mark of a commander in chief to be bad-mouthing our military."
Trump has faced criticism for saying last week that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader than President Barack Obama and that America's military leadership has been "reduced to rubble."
On Monday, he vowed to increase funding for the military, and offered his standard promise to destroy Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq, without offering detail for how he would accomplish that goal.
"I will pledge to give you the resources, the equipment and the support that you deserve and that you're not getting," Trump told the guard officers. "You will have a true and loyal friend in the White House."
Maryland, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 2 to 1, has voted for the Democratic nominee in each of the last six presidential elections. A poll released last week by Annapolis-based OpinionWorks found Clinton leading Trump in the state by 29 points.
During the primary campaign, Trump held rallies in Hagerstown in Western Maryland and Worcester County on the Eastern Shore. The appearance at a high school in Worcester County drew a few hundred protesters.
