Texas Military Widow Slams Trump University At Democratic National Convention [VIDEO]

SAN ANTONIO, TX — A San Antonio resident took center stage at the Democratic National Convention on Monday, detailing her story of being scammed by Trump University.

The "university" offered classes promising tactics on accumulating wealth, promoted by now-GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump prior to his presidential campaign. Trump University is now the subject of a federal lawsuit alleging its classes failed to live up to their wealth-building promise.

Cheryl Lankford took to the stage on the convention's opening day in Philadelphia to relate her own story about having enrolled for Trump University classes shortly after becoming a military widow and single mother. Her husband, Command Sgt. Major Jonathan M. Lankford, died in Baghdad in 2007.

"When you lose a spouse, you know that your life will change forever; you now that it won't be easy," Lankford said. "But I didn't expect that on top of grieving the loss of my husband and trying to raise my baby that I'd also be the victim of a scam."

Having been left widowed as a young single mother, the promise of wealth offered by Trump University proved a powerful lure, she suggested. But after enrolling in the program, the wealth originating from its lessons never materialized, she added.

"By conning me out of the money the military gave me after my husband died, I felt like Trump University was dishonoring Jonathan's memory," Lankford said. "I was furious, frightened and, the truth is, I was embarrassed."

But she added she was hardly alone: "He preyed on vulnerable people like military widows and the elderly. He made millions of dollars out of people like me — millions."

Lankford explained she used some of the money the military provided after the death of her husband, lured by the company's wealth-building claims. At the time of her enrollment, only the $35,000 package of classes was being offered, she said in a video preceding her speech.

Trump has come under fire for his now-shuttered Trump University, which has become fodder for his political rivals. The defunct "university" is now the subject of a federal lawsuit in San Diego accusing Trump of having defrauded customers.

Trump University set up shop in Texas before drawing the attention of former attorney general Greg Abbott, now the state's governor, after customers reported similar claims of being defrauded. But Abbott abruptly halted his probe, and the "university" ceased its operations in Texas shortly thereafter.

"He cheated more than 5,000 students, hard-working, middle class folks — teachers, police officers, even veterans," Lankford said. "These are folks just like me who didn't have a lot but who were told that if they paid for Donald Trump's program, they might be able to make a better living."

Although it has since ceased operations, the specter of Trump University looms large against the backdrop of the presidential campaign, yielding a political Achilles heel for its founder. Trump earlier tried having the judge in the case — an Indiana-born jurist of Mexican ancestry — removed from the case, citing a perceived impartiality against the business tycoon given his expressed pledge to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico should he become president.

On July 23, the federal judge in the case denied a request by Trump's attorneys seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed.

On the opening day of the Democratic National Convention, Lankford illustrated on a national forum just how big a liability the Trump University case may become for Trump's presidential ambitions.

"This election isn't about Democrats versus Republican," Lankford said. "It's about right versus wrong. Donald Trump made big promises about Trump University, and I was fooled into believing him. Now, he's making big promises about America. Please don't make that same mistake."

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