NEW YORK–(ENEWSPF)–June 3, 2016. Donald Trump continued his campaign to finally put to rest the notion that all press is good press with a flurry of bad headlines in battleground states. The week began with Donald Trump hypocritically touting his donations to veterans groups that he was forced to make after reporters called him out on his efforts to back out on a promise he made to raise money for veterans groups. It didn’t get any better for him, as attention quickly turned to Donald’s fraudulent Trump University scam and the tactics it employed to cheat Americans out of their hard earned money.
Dayton Daily News // Steve Bennnish and Laura Bischoff
“A veterans organization that was recently funded by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was forced to clean house in Ohio three years ago after an investigation found it was running a sham job training program for military veterans and diverting money from instant bingo operations.”
Philadelphia Daily News // Will Bunch
“Today, America is slowly waking up to the fact that our national equivalent of a Nigerian email scammer has about a 48 percent chance of becoming our 45th president. A con man. A scam artist. A grifter. Someone who desperately clung to his billionaire status by trying to squeeze nickels and dimes from retirees and aspiring single moms has somehow managed to win GOP presidential primaries from New Hampshire to New York to Illinois and soon in California.”
Allentown Morning Call // Laura Olson
“Veterans supporting Democrat Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania and several other key battleground states took aim at the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, depicting Trump as someone who does not understand the needs of veterans.
“‘Why would anyone want to serve under a President Trump if this is how he treats veterans?’ asked former congressman Chris Carney, a commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve, regarding the ambiguity over his charitable donations.
“Trump had claimed that he raised $6 million for veterans groups from a January rally he held instead of appearing in a televised debate. Several news outlets had pressed him recently on whether he had distributed that full total.”
Word for word: How Trump University got folks to fork out thousands for the courses
Tampa Bay Times //
“Trump University guides unsealed this week by a federal judge in southern California undercut Donald Trump’s portrayal of his one-time real estate seminar course as an uncontroversial operation. Instead, the manuals reflect boiler-room sales tactics — the proceeds of which went largely to Trump. One guide encouraged staff to learn prospective enrollees’ motivations in order to better sell them on products: “Are they a single parent of three children that may need money for food?” the guide asked. Those who bought into Trump University ended up paying as much as $34,995 for what was purported to be private mentoring with supposed real estate experts — some of whom Trump himself later acknowledged were unqualified.”
NH1 // Paul Steinhasuer
“Shurtleff, a veteran who served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, also called out Donald Trump for being a hypocrite on veterans issues.
“Shurtleff told NH1 News that ‘as a Vietnam Veteran, I’m still troubled by his comments about Sen. McCain, a brother veteran of Vietnam and I thought those were completely uncalled for, especially coming from someone who got college deferments.’
“’He ought to be ashamed,’ Shurtleff added.
“Shurtleff’s news conference was held just two hours after Trump, at a contentious news conference at Trump Tower in New York City, announced that he had raised $5.6 million at a fundraiser for veterans that he hosted in Iowa in January, on the same night and in the same city as a GOP primary debate that he skipped out on. Trump also lambasted the political press corps for repeatedly questioning him over accountability for the donations.”
Love easy money? Unsealed Trump U. playbook results in free sales lessons
Orlando Sentinel // Phil Rosenthal
“Never let it be said that Donald Trump’s now-defunct for-profit Trump University failed to teach people something.
“Those who signed up for thousands of dollars’ worth of instruction in the world of real estate and being an entrepreneur doubtlessly learned a thing or two.
“Those of us getting our mitts on the just-unsealed 2009 “Trump University Playbook” are getting another education.
“We may be on the fence about whether buying and selling distressed real estate is for us. But when we were done reading it, hawking seminars in hotel ballrooms seemed like a pretty good way to go.”
Clinton team enlists Northam to blast Trump on veterans’ issue
Richmond Times-Dispatch // Jim Nolan
“In swing state Virginia, Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam, a former Army doctor who treated soldiers during the Persian Gulf War, said Trump’s veterans record ‘shows that he’s only out to help one person: Donald Trump.’
“The salvo comes amid questions over the proceeds of a veterans charity fundraiser Trump held in January that he claimed raised $6 million. The GOP candidate is scheduled to hold a news conference later today to explain how much was raised and where it went.”
Clinton vows focus on Trump University
Dayton Daily News // Jamie Dupree
“Hours after a federal judge unsealed internal sales documents from Trump University, Hillary Clinton and her campaign team signaled that they would be ready to use the details from that lawsuit to attack Donald Trump, making the case that Trump is unsuited for the office of President.”
Ralph Northam criticizes Trump’s veterans record, rhetoric
Augusta Free Press //
“Northam starkly contrasted Trump’s hypocrisy and offensive rhetoric with Hillary Clinton’s commitment to veterans and military families, saying, ‘As a veteran, I know that Hillary Clinton will be a president who will make sure veterans and military families are strong — boosting their access to opportunities to succeed upon returning home. Hillary has real policy solutions to modernize and refocus the full spectrum of veterans’ benefits across the federal government and to overhaul VA governance to create a new veteran-centric model of excellence. That’s the kind of leadership our veterans deserve.'”
Vets, Clinton surrogates say Trump unfit to be commander in chief
KRDO // Eric Fink
“The veterans say Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee is not fit to be commander in chief.
“Retired Army Col. Vicki Warren lives in Colorado Springs and believes Trump raised millions of dollars for veterans’ groups but says he shouldn’t have used veterans for political gain.
“‘He didn’t want to debate so he found what I think is one of the best causes out there and he used them to give him wiggle room to get out of the FOX debate,’ Warren said.”
Vets backing Clinton go on offensive against Trump
Palm Beach Post // John Kennedy
“Gene Kendall, a former Navy rear admiral, called Trump “a loose cannon,” who was forced to hold a news conference Tuesday mainly to blunt media questions about whether he had shared the millions he claimed to raise at a January event in Iowa.
“’It wasn’t something he did willingly, you can be rest assured of that,’ Kendall said.”
Retired Florida military veterans call Trump ‘a fraud’
Orlando Sentinel // Steven Lemongello
“A group of retired Florida military veterans came together for the Hillary Clinton campaign to assail Donald Trump.
“Retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General John Douglass, of Cocoa Beach, Retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Kendall of Fernandina Beach and U.S. Coast Guard veteran Elena McCullough of Pasco County said that Trump said in a Clinton campaign conference call Tuesday that the prospective Republican nominee for president is untrustworthy on military and veterans issues.
“‘He’s a fraud,’ said Kendall. ‘He’s a danger to national security and also international security.”
“Veterans, said Kendall, ‘deserve a president that honors that service [with] quality heath care, educational benefits and all other benefits.”
