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The war of words between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on Wednesday intensified as the Democratic presidential frontrunner accused the Republican presumptive presidential nominee of "scamming" the American people after he got embroiled in a fresh 'TrumpUniversity' controversy.
"He (Trump) is trying to scam America the way he scammed all those people at TrumpUniversity. 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 TrumpUniversity. 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 Trump himself is a fraud," Clinton said.
In documents released this week from one of the three pending lawsuits against TrumpUniversity, 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 TrumpUniversity.
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.
Democratic US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a campaign event in San Francisco, California. Photograph: Stephen Lam/Reuters