In two-front war, Clinton targets Trump’s housing crash gain
LOS ANGELES – Hillary Clinton and her Democratic allies dove deeper into Donald Trump’s record Tuesday, launching a new round of attacks designed to paint the billionaire businessman as profiting off the housing crisis that hurt millions of Americans.
As she has for weeks, Clinton avoided all mention of primary challenger Bernie Sanders, even as both campaigned in California ahead of the state’s June 7 primary. Instead, she focused on Trump, trying to use the presumptive Republican nominee’s words against him.
“You know what happened in the great recession. Donald Trump said when he was talking about the possibility of a housing market crash before the great recession, he said, ‘I sort of hope that happens,’” Clinton told union workers in Los Angeles.
“He actually said he was hoping for the crash that caused hard-working families in California and across the country to lose their homes.”
Trump shot back in a statement, saying he’s “made a lot of money in down markets.”
“Frankly, this is the kind of thinking our country needs, understanding how to get a good result out of a very bad and sad situation.”
Clinton’s attacks were echoed by Democrats across the country, who highlighted comments Trump made in 2006 saying he “sort of hopes” the housing bubble would burst because “people like me could make a lot of money.”
“What kind of a man does that? Root for people to get thrown out on the street?” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said of Trump in a speech Tuesday night. “I’ll tell you exactly what kind – a man who cares about no one but himself. A small, insecure moneygrubber who doesn’t care who gets hurt.”
In an email to the Associated Press in response to Warren’s remarks, Trump said: “She’s one of the least successful Senators in the U.S. Senate. I borrowed $1 million dollars and turned it into a great $10 billion-dollar company in a relatively short period of time.”
Sanders’ campaign launched a $1.5 million ad buy in California and announced it would seek a recanvass in last week’s Kentucky primary, where he trailed Clinton by less than one-half of 1 percent. The recanvass, which is not a recount, involves reviewing the election but is unlikely to change the results.