BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) – Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is playing defense on at least one issue these days: his role in a now-defunct real estate seminar business called Trump University.
At a rally in Arkansas on Saturday, Trump took a break from his stump speech to downplay a class-action civil lawsuit pending against the business, which was founded by Trump and offered students instruction on real estate investments.
“It’s a small deal, very small,” Trump said of the suit, which could force him to take the stand this summer.
Trump specifically railed against the judge in the case, and at one point noted the judge’s Hispanic ethnicity.
Trump claimed the case should have been thrown out years ago, “but because it was me and because there’s a hostility toward me by the judge – tremendous hostility – beyond belief.” He then noted, as an aside: “I believe he happens to be Spanish, which is fine. He’s Hispanic – which is fine.”