Clinton seeking to disqualify Trump on handling of economy


Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton plans to portray Republican Donald Trump as an erratic and unfit steward of the nation's economy, returning to Ohio to press the case that workers would bear the brunt of the business mogul's policies. Clinton's Tuesday address in Ohio, one of the nation's most prominent swing states, will aim to place a marker on the economy in a similar manner in which she did on foreign policy earlier this month with a searing takedown of Trump in San Diego."If we put Donald Trump behind the steering wheel of the economy, he is very likely to drive us off the cliff," said Clinton campaign senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan previewing her remarks. The former secretary of state's address at an alternative high school in Columbus will question Trump's temperament to guide the economy and point to his business record as evidence of how he would treat small businesses and working families if he won the White House. Bolstered by more than $40 million in television advertising, Clinton and her Democratic allies are trying to use this period before the summer Democratic National Convention to disqualify Trump on the economy and prevent him from successfully wooing working-class voters in battleground states like Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan. Laying the groundwork, Clinton's campaign seized on a report Monday by Moody's Analytics which found Trump's plans would lead to a "lengthy recession," costing nearly 3.5 million American jobs.The analysis by Moody's Mark Zandi, a former economic advisor to Republican Sen. John McCain's 2008 campaign, predicted Trump's approach would swell the federal debt as the nation's economy becomes more isolated by less trade and cross-border immigration. Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook, in an interview with Ari Rabin-Havt on SiriusXM's The Agenda, said Trump would start "trade wars" overseas that would hurt the nation's manufacturing sector.