Hillary Clinton employed a now familiar rhetorical device while campaigning in Atlantic City Wednesday to remind American voters that Donald Trump is a serial swindler: She used his own words to weave the narrative. Here's the call and response version of her speech, matching Trump's assertions with Clinton's answer.
Trump: “I'm going to do for the country what I did for my business” (June 2016)
Clinton: Here's what he did. He intentionally ran up huge amounts of debt on his companies, hundreds of millions of dollars. He borrowed at high interest rates, even after promising regulators that he wouldn't. What came next? He defaulted on those loans, didn't pay them back, and in the end, he bankrupted his companies, not once, not twice, but four times.
Trump on Trump Plaza Casino: "It will be the biggest hit yet" (circa 1983)
Clinton: Now it's abandoned, you can just make out the word Trump, where it used to be written in flashy lights. He had the letters taken down a few years ago. But his presence remains. And not far from here is the old Trump marina hotel casino, a few years ago it was sold at a huge loss.
Trump on the Trump Taj Mahal: "The eighth wonder of the world" (circa 1990)
Clinton: It filed for bankruptcy in 2009, things got so bad the new management cancelled workers’ health insurance and pensions, and now the those workers are on strike and we should all support them in getting a fair deal.
Trump on one of his bankruptcies: "I figured he said it was the bank's problem, not mine, what the hell did I care?" (circa 2007)
Clinton: I'm guessing many of you have had debt at some point, student loans, mortgages, credit cards, you couldn't just tell the bank that you didn't feel like paying, could you? And here's an important thing about how Donald Trump operates, he doesn't default and go bankrupt as a last resort, 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.
Trump on Atlantic City: "The money I took out of there was incredible" (May 2016)
Clinton: Think about it, the money he took out of here. That says everything you need to know about Donald Trump. It's not about what he can build, it's about how much he can take.
Finally, Clinton summarized Trump's biggest swindle of all—the notion that he's somehow loyal to American workers, noting that Trump furniture is made in Turkey, Trump suits were made in Mexico, and Trump lamps are made in China.
"If he wants to make America great again," she said, "maybe he should start by actually making things in America again."
Watch it:
