Trump defends Trump U in San Diego
Apparent Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump spent several minutes at his San Diego rally on Friday criticizing the plaintiffs and judge in a federal lawsuit against his defunct real estate university.
At about the same time a hearing in one of two civil cases against Trump and Trump University was under way in U.S. District Court a few blocks away, the businessman bashed Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel and the law firm that filed the complaint.
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“We’re in front of a very hostile judge,” Trump told the raucous crowd inside the San Diego Convention Center. “The judge was appointed by Barack Obama.”
Trump said he would fare better in front of a jury.
“If we have a trial, we’ll go all the way,” he said. “Watch how we win it.”
Trump and the real-estate school were named in a class-action lawsuit filed six years ago by former students, who alleged they were promised more than they received when they signed up for classes on how to make money investing. They have described the program as a multi-layered scam that took more and more money, promising more valuable money-making secrets that never materialized.
The case was scheduled to go to trial this summer, but Curiel put off the proceeding until after the presidential election.
“Wouldn’t that be wild if I’m president and I come back and do a civil case?” Trump told the audience.
Trump belittled plaintiffs in the lawsuit, saying they gave the program good reviews and complained only about the lunch offerings and the uncomfortable chairs.
Trump also criticized the law firm defending the former students, and said the vast majority of people who enrolled in his coursework were satisfied with the quality of their education.
“It shouldn’t be a trial; it should be a summary judgment dismissal,” he said. “We have 10,000 surveys from former students giving Trump University rave reviews.”
Trump suggested his children might take on the mantle of Trump University if he is elected president.
“It was a terrific school,” he said. “It was great, it was good.”
The program has continued to make the news. On Friday morning, CNN reported that according to a deposition taken under oath last December, Trump was unable to identify or even recognize the names of a single presenter or teacher at his seminars even though the program promised students he would hand-pick the experts himself.
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