Hillary Clinton made one of the most pointed speeches of her campaign in Reno on Tuesday, accusing Donald Trump of embracing the ideologies of hate groups.
Clinton had originally planned to come to Reno to talk about jobs and the economy. But she changed her mind after listening to voters who are worried about the incendiary tone of Donald Trump's campaign.
"Everywhere I go, people tell me how concerned they are by the divisive rhetoric coming from my opponent,” she said. “And I understand that concern, because it's like nothing we've heard before."
Clinton says Trump has embraced a political philosophy that has come to be known as the alt-right.
"The Wall Street Journal describes it as a loose but organized movement, mostly online, that rejects mainstream conservatism, promotes nationalism, and views immigration and multiculturalism as threats to white identity," said Clinton.
She says Trump has further embraced this movement after hiring people like Stephen Bannon, who runs the conservative website Breitbart.com.
Clinton read a list of offensive headlines from the site and says Trump has promoted these extremist ideas and peddled conspiracy theories through his campaign speeches and Twitter account.
"This is someone retweets white supremacists online, like the user who goes by the name @WhiteGenocideTM,” she said. “Trump took this fringe bigot, with a few dozen followers, and spread his message to 11 million people."
Trump fired back at his own rally in New Hampshire that Clinton was denigrating his supporters.
"When Democratic policies fail, they are only left with only this one tired argument: 'You're racist, you're racist, you're racist,' they keep saying it. 'You're racist,'" said Trump.
Clinton deflected a question by a reporter later in the day on whether she thought Trump was an outright racist, but came pretty close to saying so in her speech.
Afterward, Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve, who issued a formal endorsement of Clinton, took the candidate to Hub Coffee Roasters on the river.
Clinton greeted some of her Nevada field organizers and sampled the nitro cold brew coffee, as well as some chocolate from Dorinda's next door.
Steven Arnold was reading his book at Hub, taking in the scene of dozens of reporters and Clinton in her turquoise pantsuit. He still doesn't know who he'll vote for.
"I just don't know," said Arnold. "I wish Bernie was still in, but then again, going for Bernie is like going for Hillary. I dunno, it's confusing."
A few moments later, Clinton's handlers whisked Clinton into her SUV, headed to the next stop in a campaign with just 74 days remaining.
Clinton delivering this blistering speech in Reno points to the significance of Northern Nevada this election cycle. Clinton won the state's caucus, but lost to Bernie Sanders in Washoe County, a notorious swing district. It's a crucial stop for any candidate hoping to take Nevada's six electoral votes this November.
