Clinton, Trump Swap Insults

In one of the most vitriolic moments of the presidential campaign so far, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are accusing each other of deep bigotry toward racial minorities.

A few hours after Trump condemned Clinton as a "bigot," Clinton linked Trump to an ultra-conservative movement, called the "alt-right," which critics say is promoting white nationalism and opposition to immigration.

"Donald Trump has shown us who he is, and we ought to believe him," Clinton told CNN Wednesday night. "He is taking a hate movement mainstream. He's brought it into his campaign. He's bringing it to our communities and our country."

Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, said she would elaborate in a speech she is scheduled to give in Reno, Nevada, Thursday.

She told CNN that Trump, the Republican candidate, "is very much peddling bigotry and prejudice and paranoia." She also attacked Trump for attempting to raise doubts, inaccurately, about the citizenship of Barack Obama, the first African-American president; for having been sued years ago by the Justice Department for alleged discrimination in rental housing; for questioning the fairness of a U.S. judge with a Mexican heritage, and for proposing to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants from the United States, a position Trump now appears to be modifying.

Clinton also is expected to make the point Thursday that Trump has hired Steve Bannon to be the chief executive of his campaign. Bannon has been the chief executive of Breitbart News, an ultra-conservative website that has adopted positions of the alt-right.

Clinton's barrage followed Trump's accusation at a rally in Jackson, Mississippi, that Clinton is prejudiced. "Hillary Clinton is a bigot who sees people of color only as votes, not as human beings worthy of a better future," Trump said.

This was part of Trump's recent effort to appeal to and undermine Clinton with African-American and Hispanic voters, who are overwhelmingly opposed to his candidacy, according to national opinion polls.