Clinton campaign hits Trump for seeing Brexit as boon to his business

[June 27, 2016]  By John Whitesides and Lucia Mutikani
 
 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign accused Donald Trump on Sunday of caring more about how Britain's historic vote to leave the European Union would benefit his financial bottom line than how it would impact the U.S. economy.

Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook acknowledged parallels between the populist anger and anti-establishment fervor that fueled the Brexit vote and Trump's rise to the nomination, but said the Republican candidate's reaction showed he was not fit to occupy the White House.

"Hillary Clinton looks at this through the lens of how it's going to affect middle-class families, Donald Trump through the lens of how it will help his bottom line," Mook said on "Fox News Sunday."

Without mentioning Trump by name, Clinton also warned that "bombastic comments in turbulent times can actually cause more turbulence" in a speech to a conference of city mayors in Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon.

Her campaign released a national television advertisement earlier in the day, which featured the wealthy real estate developer's comments on Friday that the fall of the British currency after the Brexit vote could mean more business for his golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, where he was speaking.

"Every president is tested by world events, but Donald Trump thinks about how his golf resort can profit from them," said the 30-second video.

Besides his currency comments, Trump had praised the Brexit result as an example of people "taking their country back." He responded to the advertisement on Sunday by saying Clinton, whose staff had said she supported the United Kingdom remaining in the union, had poor judgment.

"Clinton is trying to wash away her bad judgment call on BREXIT with big dollar ads," ran a message on his Twitter account. "Disgraceful!"

Paul Manafort, campaign manager for Trump, rejected what he called a "phony" charge by Clinton and said Trump was more in sync with the global economic frustration exemplified by the Brexit vote. In contrast, the Clinton ad showed her campaign's "tone deafness" by focusing on things the American people did not care about, he said in an NBC interview.

In her speech on Sunday, Clinton said the United States and the United Kingdom were different "economically, politically, demographically," but still drew some parallels between the mood of American and British voters.

"Just as we have seen, there are many frustrated people in Britain, we know there are frustrated people here at home, too," she said. "I have seen it, I've heard it, I know it."

BREXIT PARALLELS IN U.S.

Global stock markets nosedived on Friday and economic experts warned of a potential global recession after the shocking British vote to pull out of the European Union. Markets prepared for the possibility of more pain on Monday.

An attendee wears a "Make Donald Drumpf Again" hat during the "Politicon" convention in Pasadena, California, U.S. June 25, 2016. REUTERS/Patrick T. Fallon

Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the Brexit vote highlighted global anxieties about economic stagnation and immigration.

"The genius of what's happened with the candidacy of Donald Trump is he's given voice to that, just as was given in the UK," Corker, who has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick for Trump, said on CNN's "State of the Union" program.

He said he thought Trump's appearance at his golf course in Scotland after the Brexit vote "was one of his best events" and his comments about the British currency and what it would mean for his businesses were just "an anecdotal statement" about its effects.

"He was giving an example, which is obvious, that when the currency fluctuates, as it does, more Americans are going to be able to travel to the UK more cheaply," he said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said the Brexit vote showed people were tired of being dictated to by "unelected bureaucrats in Brussels," and said there were parallels in the United States.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who built his White House campaign against Clinton around populist proposals to eradicate income inequality, remove big money from politics and rein in Wall Street, said the Brexit vote encapsulated many of those concerns.

"What ordinary people are saying is 'hey, give us an economy that works for all of us, not just the people on top,'" Sanders said on CNN.

(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan and Julia Harte in Washington and Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Mary Milliken and Sandra Maler)

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