Clinton slams Trump’s bankruptcies, ‘shameful’ treatment of workers

by TheHill.com - 07/06/16 12:55 PM ET

Hillary Clinton took aim at Donald Trump’s business record on Wednesday during a speech in Atlantic City, N.J., highlighting the mogul’s casinos that have gone bankrupt in the city.

Speaking in front of the former Trump Plaza Casino, Clinton said what the likely Republican presidential nominee did to his workers was “shameful.”

{mosads}“He calls himself the king of debt. And he earned that title right here in AC,” she said.

“He doesn’t default and go bankrupt as a last resort,” Clinton added. “He does it over and over again on purpose. Even though he knows he will leave others empty-handed while he keeps the plane, the helicopter, the penthouse.”

In a series of tweets posted earlier on Wednesday, Trump defended his management of the casinos by blaming Democratic leaders in the city.

“I made a lot of money in Atlantic City and left 7 years ago, great timing (as all know),” Trump wrote. “Pols made big mistakes, now many bankruptcies.”

“Hillary Clinton should ask why the Democrat pols in Atlantic City made all the wrong moves – Convention Center, Airport – and destroyed City,” he added.

Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, seized on the tweets during the speech as proof of his predatory business practices.

“You know he did it again this morning,” she said. “He went on Twitter and said, ‘I made a lot of money in Atlantic City and left.’ Well he got rich and got out, and he thinks that’s something to be proud of. He didn’t just take advantage of investors; he took advantage of working people as well.”

Clinton also blamed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), a potential Trump running mate, for the city’s financial troubles. She called on Christie to “start doing his job instead of following Donald Trump around holding his coat.”

Trump responded to the speech in a statement on Wednesday, defending his use of bankruptcy laws.

“Out of the hundreds of businesses I have owned over the decades, and hundreds of deals and transactions, I have used the chapter laws of our country in four instances, much as many of our country’s elite business people do (but nobody cares about),” he said, adding that it is “an effective and commonly used” business practice.

“I want to bring jobs back to America, while Hillary Clinton wants to get elected to enrich herself with power at the expense of the people,” he said. “I created thousands of jobs and made a lot of money in Atlantic City, which was what, as a businessman, I am supposed to do for my company and my family– and as President I will make America rich again, and Make America Great Again.”