Bernie Sanders criticizes Atlantic City’s casino industry

The Democratic presidential candidate, who is hoping to win as many delegates as possible in New Jersey’s June 7 primary election, criticized the “greed and recklessness” of casino owners who he said have attacked local workers’ pension and health-care benefits. Mr. Sanders didn’t address the political fight in Trenton that has left Atlantic City on the brink of bankruptcy.

Atlantic City, which held a 30-year monopoly on East Coast casinos, now competes with gaming parlors in neighboring states and has lost $2.8 billion in gambling revenue since 2006. Thousands of casino workers have lost their jobs in recent years, and, as of March, the city had a nonseasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 10.3%.

“When we talk about the decline of the American middle class and the increase in poverty, what we are talking about is workers right here,” Mr. Sanders said. “Billionaires like Carl Icahn…come in here and attack the standard of living of dishwashers and maids.”

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Oh, you know Donald Trump? Sanders said in response to the crowd’s jeers. You don’t think he’s a brilliant, successful businessman who can bring the kind of prosperity to America that he has brought here to Atlantic City, is that your point?

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Mr. Icahn owns two of Atlantic City’s largest casinos, Trump Taj Mahal and the Tropicana. He acquired Trump Taj Mahal, named for its former owner Donald Trump, after the casino entered bankruptcy court.

Mr. Icahn said in a statement that both casinos would have closed if he hadn’t invested millions of dollars in them, saving and creating thousands of jobs.

Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, was loudly booed at the Atlantic City rally, held at Boardwalk Hall a little over a mile from his former casino.

“Oh, you know Donald Trump?” Mr. Sanders said in response to the crowd’s jeers. “You don’t think he’s a brilliant, successful businessman who can bring the kind of prosperity to America that he has brought here to Atlantic City, is that your point?”

Mr. Trump said through a spokeswoman that he had “great success” in Atlantic City before the market collapsed under competition from surrounding states.

Rally attendee Kerrie Scull said she has managed to hold on to her job as a makeup artist for Scores, a gentlemen’s club at Trump Taj Mahal, but her hours have been significantly reduced. The club, which used to operate daily, is now only open on the weekends, she said.

“Business is slow,” said Ms. Scull, 28 years old, who lives in neighboring Absecon. She said she is supporting Mr. Sanders because she believes the Vermont senator would create jobs and protect local unions if elected president.

Many members of Unite Here Local 54, the union representing Atlantic City’s casino workers, attended the rally. President Bob McDevitt said the union endorsed Mr. Sanders because he is willing to take on hedge funds, private equity and Wall Street investors that have taken over many of Atlantic City’s casinos and saddled them with unsustainable debt.

These casinos owners are “stripping the workers of their benefits and they’re not putting any money back into the economy,” Mr. McDevitt said.

The Casino Association of New Jersey, a trade group, didn’t return requests for comment.

Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson, a Republican, said he understands why Mr. Sanders’s message has resonated with voters. Still, the candidate’s economic proposals, such as increasing the minimum wage to $15, are unrealistic, Mr. Levinson said.

“He’s never understood that it’s not free,” Mr. Levinson said. “Someone’s paying for it.”

Mr. Sanders heads into next month’s primary as the underdog but has gained support in recent months among New Jersey voters, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll.

The April poll showed Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton’s lead over Mr. Sanders narrowing for the first time to single digits, 51% to 42%.