Clinton apologises for calling half of Trump's supporters 'deplorables'

Hillary Clinton has apologised after calling many Donald Trump supporters "deplorables" but said she would continue to call out "prejudice and paranoia" from her rival's campaign.

The Democratic presidential nominee backtracked after suggesting that half of Trump's followers fell into "a basket of deplorables....The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic - you name it".

Trump had seized on Clinton's remarks as smearing a large number of Americans and suggested that they could cost her support in what looks set to be close-run race for the White House.

Less than 24 hours Clinton said she had been "grossly generalist" in a tweet but added "I won't stop calling out bigotry and racist rhetoric in this campaign" in a statement posted on Twitter.

She sought to refocus her attack more firmly on Trump, arguing that "deplorable" was reasonable to describe much of his campaign.

Ms Clinton also hit out at Trump on Twitter as he attempted to capitalise on her misstep.

The rhetorical scuffle comes as the candidates head into the final two months of the campaign, with Mr Trump trying to make up ground on Mrs Clinton before the November 8 election.

Her remarks may be seen as a misstep which pushes away potential backers in a tight race as she embraces a more bombastic style in an effort to hit back at her outspoken and unashamedly inflammatory opponent.

Comments about voters - especially at private fundraisers - have tripped up presidential hopefuls in the past.

Weeks before the 2012 election, Republican Mitt Romney landed inhot water for saying that 47% of the public would vote for President Barack Obama "no matter what" because they depended on government benefits and his job was "not to worry about those people".

During the 2008 Democratic primary, then-senator Obama said that small-town voters "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations".