At New Jersey rally, Democratic frontrunner attacks Republican rival over Trump U and foreign policy ahead of her touted address on national security

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Hillary Clinton has unloaded on Donald Trump as a “fraud” who would “scam America the way he scammed all of those people at Trump U” – referring to the Republican’s defunct business training program that is at the center of a class action lawsuit.

Trump University 'playbooks' offer glimpse of ruthless business practices Read more

The Democratic frontrunner on Wednesday seized on the findings from a batch of documents made public by a judge that describe how Trump staff targeted prospective students’ financial weakness to get them to enroll in his high-priced real estate courses.

“Trump and his employees took advantage of vulnerable Americans, encouraging them to max out their credit cards, empty their retirement savings, destroy their financial futures – all while making promises they knew were false from the beginning,” Clinton said during a rally at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey.

“This is just more evidence that Donald Trump himself is a fraud. He is trying to scam America the way he scammed all those people at Trump U.”

Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) It's one thing to sell steaks using a name as a marketing ploy. Trump's company intentionally put people at risk. pic.twitter.com/5F4siYeO8p

A series of recent polls found Clinton and Trump neck and neck in a prospective general election match-up, though her campaign has attributed the closeness to the fact that Clinton is still running a primary race. Her campaign has said it expects to clinch the Democratic nomination on 7 June, when New Jersey and California vote, believing her lead to be insurmountable.

During her remarks Clinton also hit Trump for his pronouncements on foreign policy and national security, saying his support for pulling out of Nato, expanding the use of torture and banning Muslims from entering the United States “disqualifies” him from being commander in chief.

“I know how hard these decisions are,” Clinton said, recounting a moment in the White House situation room when she encouraged Obama to carry out the raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed.

Clinton’s campaign announced that she would deliver a “major address” on national security in San Diego on Thursday. She will draw distinctions between herself and Trump on foreign policy and paint her likely opponent as “temperamentally unfit” to be commander in chief.

“This election will determine what direction this country heads in and there could not be a more stark and important difference because every day we learn more and more about Donald Trump,” Clinton said.

Clinton trained her fire on Trump as she continues to fend off her Democratic challenger, Senator Bernie Sanders, who has narrowed the primary race in California. Clinton will join the Vermont senator in the Golden State on Thursday and campaign there until the primary next week.



During the Newark rally Clinton made no mention of her Democratic challenger, having turned long ago to face Trump, her likely general election opponent. She left Sanders to the speakers introducing her.



“Ladies and gentlemen we do not need independents running in the Democratic party. We need Democrats in the Democratic party,” said New Jersey congressman Donald Payne. Sanders was a registered independent until 2015. Payne encouraged the crowd to vote next week, saying the state could carry Clinton “over the line” to the nomination.



She was also introduced by Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and musician Jon Bon Jovi, the state’s “patron saint”.

Speaking of the former former secretary of state’s accomplishments, Bon Jovi joked that “all those titles get confusing and it gets a little awkward for me, so I just like to call her Mrs C”.

When Booker took the mic from the musician, the charismatic senator quipped: “I hate to contradict Bon Jovi but, dear God, Hillary Clinton – you give love a good name.”

After the rally Clinton and Booker headed to Omar’s, a Cuban restaurant in Newark. In between shaking hands with patrons and posing for selfies, Clinton was asked if she was considering Booker as a running mate. Booker stepped in to reply, reprising a well-rehearsed line: “I’m already her VP. Her vegan pal.”

Recognizing the triteness of the joke, Clinton conceded: “We have to work on that.”

Clinton was also asked how she felt about her chances in the Garden State, where polls show her ahead.

“We are going to work hard,” Clinton said. “I want to be a Jersey girl.”