The Sad Story of Trump "University"

Did Trump University Scam Low-Income Students Who Are Now Suing the GOP Front-Runner?

Both Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz hit Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in Thursday"s debate over questions about Trump University.

"I don"t know anything about starting a university, and that was a fake university," Rubio said as Trump repeatedly tried to interrupt him. "There are people who borrowed $36,000 to go to Trump University, and they"re suing now. $36,000 to go to a university that"s a fake school. And you know what they got? They got to take a picture with a cardboard cutout of Donald Trump."

"I"ve won most of the lawsuits," Trump protested.

Cruz also got in on the act. "You know, Marco made reference earlier to the litigation against Trump University. It"s a fraud case. His lawyers have scheduled the trial for July," he said. "I want you to think about, if this man is the nominee, having the Republican nominee on the stand in court, being cross-examined about whether he committed fraud. You don"t think the mainstream media will go crazy on that?"

Friday morning on NBC"s Today, Rubio kept the heat on Trump for his "fake school." "You have a guy who is being sued right now for fraud for Trump University," said Rubio. "I"ve had stories written about my driving record."

What were Rubio and Cruz talking about, and what is Trump University. Americans watching the debate seem to have been asking the same questions, if Google Trends is any indication:

In a recent issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD, Matt Labash highlighted the sad story of Trump University, one of the Donald"s biggest failures. Here"s an excerpt:

But most egregious was Trump University, a purported real estate school that attracted the attention of New York"s attorney general, who brought a $40 million suit on behalf of 5,000 people. The New York Times described Trump U as "a bait-and-switch scheme," with students lured "by free sessions, then offered packages ranging from $10,000 to $35,000 for sham courses that were supposed to teach them how to become successful real estate investors." Though Trump himself was largely absentee, one advertisement featured him proclaiming, "Just copy exactly what I"ve done and get rich."While some students were hoping to glean wisdom directly from the success oracle, there was no such luck. At one seminar, attendees were told they"d get to have their picture taken with Trump. Instead, they ended up getting snapped with his cardboard cutout.What must have been a crushing disappointment to aspiring real estate barons is a boon to Republican-primary metaphor hunters.

Read the whole article here, which documents Trump at his Trumpiest, from his penchant for cheating at golf to his sensitivity to being called a "short-fingered vulgarian."

Source: http://www.weeklystandard.com/the-sad-story-of-trump-university/article/2001291