VIDEO: Trump Claims He Bullied Better Business Bureau Into Better Trump U Rating
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Mother Jones/YouTube
At a recorded 2015 deposition for a lawsuit concerning Trump University, soon-to-be president Donald Trump boasted to his lawyer that he had threatened the Better Business Bureau to change the school’s rating from a D- to an A+, according to footage obtained by Mother Jones. On the video, Trump and attorney Daniel Petrocelli appear to be unaware that cameras were still rolling during a break in the proceedings. The two are heard in lowered voices discussing whether or not this case will be an “easy one” like others and the judge’s Mexican heritage—better known as “the Spanish thing.” A year later, Trump attacked District Judge Gonzalo Curiel in a CNN interview, claiming he was biased against him because he was Mexican. (Curiel was born in Indiana.)
In the 2016 campaign, Trump faced three different lawsuits regarding his unaccredited university. After the presidential election, Trump paid $25 million to settle, without admitting wrongdoing. Mother Jones notes Trump University had a D- rating from the consumer watchdog. In January 2015, it had an A+ rating, five years after it was shut down.