Hillary Clinton trolls Donald Trump outside his defunct Atlantic City casino

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REUTERS/Brian Snyder

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton delivers a campaign speech outside the shuttered Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey, July 6, 2016.

Hillary Clinton warned voters Wednesday that Donald Trump's record in Atlantic City is a key reason why she thinks he's not qualified to be president.

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Speaking in New Jersey below a faded sign where Trump's name was removed from the defunct Trump Plaza Casino, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee assailed Trump's personal business record. Clinton argued that he acted "so irresponsibly," and warned that Trump's management of his casinos demonstrated how he would run the federal government.

"Donald Trump once predicted it was the biggest hit yet. Now it's abandoned," Clinton said of the Trump Plaza Casino.

"Now ask yourself, according to the Donald, isn't he supposed to be some sort of amazing businessman? What in the world happened here?"

The former secretary of state hammered Trump for his refusal to pay contractors on some projects, noting Trump's frequent legal battles with contractors he does business with.

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Clinton was introduced by Marty Rosenberg, a contractor who said Trump refused to pay him for his work installing glass panels on the Taj Mahal casino, which almost forced Rosenberg's business to go under.

"The people he's trying to convince to vote for him now are the same people he's been exploiting for years. Working people, small business people trying to support their families," Clinton said. "This seems to be his one move. He makes over the top promises saying if people trust him, he'll deliver for him."

Clinton also homed in on Trump's high-profile bankruptcy filings in Atlantic City.

The former secretary of state argued that Trump kept much of his wealth while using bankruptcy as a tool, though as PolitiFact notes, Trump sold his yacht and his airline following the first bankruptcy filing, and was forced to reduce the shares of his ownership in the businesses in several other cases.

"He does it over and over on purpose while he keeps the plane, the helicopter, the penthouse," Clinton said.

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She added: "Remember what he promised. 'I'm going to do for the country what I did for my business.' We should believe him, and make sure he never has the chance to bankrupt America the way he bankrupted his businesses.

Trump defended his business record, noting his ownership of the casinos came during an economic downturn that resulted in economic distress for much of the gaming industry in Atlantic City.

In a statement after the speech, Trump said defended his bankruptcy filings, characterizing the moves as a common business technique.

"I have used the chapter laws of our country in four instances, much as many of our country's elite business people do (but nobody cares about)," Trump wrote in a statement. "It is an effective and commonly used practice in business to use bankruptcy proceedings to restructure a business and ultimately save jobs."

"Nobody understands the economy like I do and no one, especially not Crooked Hillary Clinton, will do more for the economy than I will. I want to bring jobs back to America, while Hillary Clinton wants to get elected to enrich herself with power at the expense of the people."

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