Washington: The war of words between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on Thursday intensified as the Democratic presidential front runner accused the Republican presumptive presidential nominee of "scamming" the American people after he got embroiled in a fresh 'Trump University' controversy.
"He (Trump) is trying to scam America the way he scammed all those people at Trump University. It's important that we recognise what he has done, because that's usually a pretty good indicator of what he will do," Clinton said at an election rally in New Jersey.
"Today, we're learning about another scam, the so-called Trump University. The New York Attorney General is suing Donald Trump for fraud," she alleged.
"And his own employees testified - I want you to hear this - his own employees testified that Trump U - you can't make this up - that Trump U was a fraudulent scheme where
Donald Trump enriched himself at the expense of hardworking people," she said.
"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. This is just more evidence that Donald Trump himself is a fraud," Clinton said.
In documents released this week from one of the three pending lawsuits against Trump University, former employees have described the now-defunct business as a "fraudulent scheme" and "total lie" that "preyed upon the elderly and uneducated".
In its sales efforts, the varsity relied on high pressure tactics and intimidation to drum up customers, encouraging them to take out new credit cards or drain their retirement accounts to pay for Trump University.
Clinton and Trump are expected to clash in the November general elections. The Democratic presidential primary is scheduled for June 7 and Clinton is pitted against Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Meanwhile, unleashing a new round of attack against Clinton, Trump said the 68-year old former Secretary of State has "no natural talent" to be the US president.
"She has no natural talents to be president. This is not a president," the 69-year-old business tycoon told his supporters at an election rally in Sacramento in California.
"A lot of people think I look extremely presidential. This (Clinton) is not presidential material," Trump said.
Referring to the email scandal of the former Secretary of State, Trump said she should not be allowed to run.
"Honestly, she should not be allowed to run. It's a disgrace to the laws of our country.
"I'll tell you what. She doesn't know what the hell she's doing. It's going to be another four years of disaster," he said, adding voters would probably be "better off" with Bernie Sanders as their president.
"But that's not going to happen," he said.
Meanwhile, the Clinton Campaign announced that in May, it raised USD 40 million.
Clinton raised more than USD 27 million in primary funds for Hillary for America (HFA) and over USD 13.5 million for the DNC and state parties across the country through the Hillary Victory Fund (HVF) during May, a media release said.
She has now raised more than USD 240 million in primary funds for the campaign and more than USD 62 million for the DNC and state parties through the HVF.
HFA continued to stockpile resources and enters June in strong financial shape with more than USD 42 million on hand.
The average donation to HFA in May was about USD 44 million.
