Donald Trump has been hammering Hillary Clinton in the press over the past week or so, including an attack ad on Instagram that brings up past sexual assault accusations made against her husband, Bill, and taking to Twitter to call her “crooked.” He even saw fit to bring up a conspiracy that the Clintons were involved in their former aide Vince Foster’s death. Now Hillary is hitting back, and just like Trump, she’s taken to Twitter to do it.
Over the past half-day or so, Clinton has been going after Trump with one of his namesakes, Trump University, for which he is being sued for defrauding hundreds of people out of thousands of dollars, after promising to make them into real estate moguls. Her first two tweets seized on testimony from former students and employees:
Trump University was a fraudulent scheme used to prey upon those who could least afford it. https://t.co/oz5ycvA2J1 pic.twitter.com/9ue4nVEdwt
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 1, 2016
Trump University's own employees described it as a "scam.” https://t.co/xDeDI1sPpR pic.twitter.com/qA2MtslUVs
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 1, 2016
This is all to show that Trump would not help working families, especially after he supposedly targeted them:
New documents confirm Trump "University" was a scam that preyed on families to make money. Caution—may cause nausea. https://t.co/d2qYRLKsou
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 1, 2016
Another Trump University practice, according to its own employees: target struggling families to fleece them. pic.twitter.com/VUH18SpBlD
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 1, 2016
She emphasizes Trump University’s practice of getting people to pay for services that they couldn’t afford, and to go into debt to do so:
Some of Trump University's tactics: push people to take on debt, cash out retirement, max out credit cards—whatever it took to buy classes.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 1, 2016
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
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 1, 2016
These are serious charges that Clinton hopes will undermine Trump’s credibility as a presidential candidate. Of course, her source is the sworn testimony of Trump University’s former managers, as reported by the New York Times, who attest to Trump’s use of predatory tactics to get people to give him their money, even though in many cases they were not in a financial position to do so.
Trump's candidacy is built on his business "credibility." But his business record matches his character: His only concern is his own profit.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 1, 2016
The Trump University con says a lot about Trump. If you can't trust him with your personal finances—how can we trust him with our country?
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 1, 2016
Trump has survived worse attacks than this, but since most of his appeal lies in his supposed financial prowess, bringing up Trump University seems like the most logical way to poke a hole in his business reputation.
She even defends the media against his attacks. Bless.
The gist: Trump's for-profit university deceived & exploited students to take their money.
And he has the gall to call the media "sleazy."
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 1, 2016