Donald Trump, as if to insist that he is indeed racist, attacks the judge in his case for being “Mexican.” One of the lawsuits against the now defunct Trump University was filed in California. The federal judge presiding over the case is Gonzalo Curiel, a Mexican-American judge in San Diego. Don Trump described the Judge as a Trump hater because the candidate wants to deport immigrants. Mr. Trump has lost a few rulings in the case. Most recently, the presidential candidate remarked, he is “Mexican” – which he said was “great – I think its fine.” See CBS news report.
Why does one party need to bring up the race of the judge at all? He could have criticized the judge just as well without noting his ethnic origin. Judge Curiel was actually born in Indiana. But, his parents are from Mexico. And, of course, it should be obvious that when a lawsuit is pending, neither party should ever engage the judge in a personal way like this. Surely, Mr. Trump’s lawyers warned him not to attack the judge publicly. This lawsuit is still pending. It may be that the blunt spoken candidate just cannot keep his thoughts to himself.