Hillary Clinton on Tuesday doubled down on her strategy of painting presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump as a heartless tycoon who profited in 2008 as average Americans suffered during the financial crisis, a narrative that she hopes will stick to the businessman between now and November.
The attacks — rolled out in unison by the Clinton campaign, Democratic Party arms and progressive advocacy groups — are somewhat reminiscent of the 2012 Obama campaign argument against Republican Mitt Romney. That assault, which centered on Mr. Romney’s time as the head of Bain Capital, seems to have been somewhat effective in convincing voters the former Massachusetts governor was out of touch with average Americans.
Political specialists say it’ll be harder to mount a similar offensive against Mr. Trump, who has shown a spectacular ability to counter-punch against attacks and control the narrative around him.
Still, the Clinton campaign has made clear that this will be one part of a multi-pronged strategy to discredit Mr. Trump ahead of the fall election.
Specifically, the Clinton camp is pointing to Mr. Trump’s comments before of the 2008 financial crisis, including a statement in 2006 that a housing market crash would allow him to “make a lot of money.”
“This is the Trump way,” Clinton surrogate and Tampa, Florida, Mayor Bob Buckhorn told reporters on a conference call organized by the Clinton campaign. “It’s very clear to me that Donald Trump is only out for himself at the expense of working families here in Tampa and across America. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know how you make America great again by rooting for it to fail so you can make a quick buck.”
Analysts say the strategy used against Mr. Romney in 2012 could work against Mr. Trump this cycle, though it will likely be more complicated.
“There are some parallels. In some may be more difficult for them to brand Donald Trump just in the sense that people already know a lot about Donald Trump and Mitt Romney was just sort of a blank slate and Democrats got out there before Mitt Romney got out there to define himself,” said Travis Ridout, a political scientist at Washington State University and co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project that tracks political advertising. “In that regard it is going to be a little more difficult to come up with something to characterize Donald Trump.”
The Clinton camp also is tying the issue to Mr. Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns by suggesting those files may reveal that he made a substantial amount of money as a result of the 2008 crash.
“We don’t know if Trump eventually made money by taking advantage of the crash because he refuses to release his tax returns,” Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat, told reporters on the Clinton campaign conference call.
While he’s refused to offer up his tax returns, Mr. Trump has released his financial disclosure forms, and his campaign argues that’s a better indication of his wealth.
“Your tax returns on a yearly basis don’t tell you what you’re worth,” Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said on “CBS This Morning.” “What they show is what your income is.”
“And Mr. Trump has already showed what his income is: $557 million last year, he has a massive cash flow, he has very, very little debt, less than two or three percent of his overall net worth,” he said. “He’s worth $10 billion.”
In addition to the Tuesday afternoon conference call, the liberal advocacy group Americans United for Change organized a protest in front of the soon-to-be Trump International Hotel in Washington. The group said the demonstration was meant to put pressure on Mr. Trump to release his tax returns and “reveal how much he profited off Americans.”
The Democratic National Committee also took aim at Mr. Trump on the same topic.
“Donald Trump’s comments in 2006 prior to the U.S. housing market collapse are just the latest examples of how when Donald Trump wins, everyone else loses,” said DNC spokesman Luis Miranda. “Donald Trump’s lack of concern for the economic well-being of hard-working families shows that he doesn’t have the judgement and temperament to occupy the Oval Office.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment about the 2006 housing market comments.
⦁ David Sherfinski contributed to this report.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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