In Wellesley College address, Clinton calls Trump’s budget proposal mean-spirited ‘con’

WELLESLEY, Mass. (AP) — Hillary Clinton peppered her Wellesley College commencement address Friday with barbs aimed at her rival in last year's presidential election, criticizing President Donald Trump's budget proposal as a mean-spirited "con."

The former Democratic presidential nominee never mentioned Trump by name even as she lashed out at his proposed budget as "an attack of unimaginable cruelty on the most vulnerable among us."

She said during her speech at her alma mater that the spending proposal fails to address critical issues such as opioid addiction and climate change. "It is shrouded in a trillion-dollar mathematical lie," she said. "Let's call it what it is. It's a con. They don't even try to hide it."

Clinton also painted a portrait of a political environment where some are hostile to the fundamentals of an enlightened society and are engaged in "full-fledged assault on truth and reason."

She said people on social media can deny science and concoct "elaborate, hurtful conspiracy theories about child abuse rings operating out of pizza parlors."

"Some are even denying things we can see with our own eyes, like the size of crowds," she said, a reference to the Republican president's false claims about the size of his inauguration crowd.

"When people in authority invent their own facts and attack those who question them, it can mark the beginning of the end of a free society," she said.

Clinton urged graduates to listen to those they may disagree with and get out of their internet bubbles, despite the push-back they may receive.

"In the years to come there will be trolls galore online and in person eager to tell you that you don't have anything worthwhile to say or anything meaningful to contribute," she said.

"They may even call you a nasty woman," she said, referring to a comment Trump made to her during a debate.

Clinton said she understands the anger that some of the graduating members of the class might be feeling in the wake of the election. She said she felt similar outrage as she was graduating 48 years ago.