Trump's CPAC speech inspires 'lock her up' chant from 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton

President Donald Trump's mere mention of Hillary Clinton's now infamous "deplorables" remark from the 2016 campaign sent the crowd at CPAC into a frenzy on Friday morning.

Chants of "lock her up" filled the auditorium at the Gaylord Convention Center after the president again defended his voters as "great Americans" against Clinton who during the presidential election said "half" of them are in what she called a "basket of deplorables"

"People came to vote and the media said 'where are they coming from?' These are hardworking great, great Americans. These are unbelievable people who have not been treated fairly. Hillary called them deplorable, they're not deplorable," said Trump.

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As the conservative conference crowd then began chanting "lock her up," the president paused, shook his head, and seemed to gesture for the audience to settle down.

While he didn't directly address the call for the former secretary of state to be arrested, Trump did say: "Who would've thought that a word was gonna play so badly? That's the problem in politics; one wrong word and it's over."

"She also said irredeemable, but we won't mention that," Trump said interrupting the chants.

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The "lock her up" chant became a popular mantra for Trump supporters over the course of the 2016 campaign, and could often be heard the billionaire businessman's rallies across the nation.

But after winning the presidency, Trump has softened on his pledge to seek legal action against his former rival, and in December when a crowd in Michigan broke out into the chant he attempted to put the issue to rest. "That plays great before the election ... nah, we don't care," said Trump.

A day after her controversial "deplorables" comment, then Democratic nominee Clinton expressed "regret," saying she was "grossly generalistic [sic], and that's never a good idea."

The president also spent a large part of his keynote address going after another popular target of his: the press.

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Trump doubled down on his claim that the "FAKE NEWS media" is the "enemy of the American people," this time saying he plans to "do something about it."

"A few days ago, I called the fake news 'the enemy of the people', and they are. They are the enemy of the people," Trump said. "Because they have no sources. They just make them up where there are none."

Trump argued that the press makes up stories and makes up sources. "They shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody's name. Let their name be put out there. Let their name be put out."

Many online were quick to point out that the president himself has a history of using unnamed sources, citing his past allegation that former President Barack Obama's birth certificate was fake.

Trump did however attempt to clarify his tweet calling the "FAKE NEWS media" the enemy, saying that he didn't call all media "the enemy of the people," but was only referring to the "fake news media."

"They're very dishonest people. In fact, covering my comments the dishonest media did not explain that I had called the fake news the enemy of the people. The fake news. They dropped the word 'fake'," he said.

In Trump's original tweet he labeled the "failing" New York Times, NBC News, ABC, CBS, and CNN as "fake news."