Clinton hammers Trump at Hispanic event

by Harper Neidig - 10/08/15 8:03 PM ET

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton slammed GOP candidate Donald Trump for his immigration rhetoric Thursday night at a Hispanic awards gala.

“It’s a problem when a leading Republican candidate for president says that immigrants from Mexico are rapists and drug dealers,” she said, referring to comments made by business mogul at the start of his campaign.

{mosads}Clinton’s invoking of Trump at a Washington event hosted by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus elicited loud boos from the audience.

She also took aim at former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, another GOP White House contender, for his remarks about the children of undocumented immigrants, saying that “it’s a problem when candidates use offensive terms like ‘anchor babies.’ ”

The Democratic front-runner has frequently sought to draw contrasts between herself and her Republican rivals on issues such as immigration, criminal justice reform and voting rights. Democrats are hoping for strong support from minority voters to win the White House in 2016.

Democrats have tried to paint Trump’s controversial comments as reflective of the Republican brand at large.

Clinton and others have also criticized Bush’s use of the term “anchor babies” to describe children born in America to parents who came to the country illegally.

Bush hasn’t walked away from using that term and said he wanted to highlight issues of birth tourism, where people come to America for the sole purpose of giving birth and obtaining American citizenship for their child.

During her brief speech introducing chef José Andrés, a young person claiming affiliation with activist group United We Dream heckled Clinton at the front of the stage before being forcibly removed.

The group put out a statement after the incident stating it was protesting her taking campaign donations from private prisons, adding that half of detained immigrants are placed in private prisons.

— Ben Kamisar contributed.

Tags Donald Trump Hillary Clinton