Hillary Clinton Was Just Asked if Donald Trump Is a Racist. Here’s Her Answer.

It’s not quite a yes.

Tony Dejak/AP

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At Thursday’s Democratic debate, moderator Karen Tumulty asked Hillary Clinton, “Is Donald Trump a racist?” Here’s how Clinton answered:

Bernie Sanders didn’t answer the question directly, either, but he attacked Trump for cheerleading the birther movement during the 2012 election. “I know a little bit about the immigrant experience,” said Sanders, whose father was an immigrant. “Nobody has ever asked me for my birth certificate. Maybe it has something to do with the color of my skin.”

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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