Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Sunday refused to say whether Donald Trump’s comments on the judge overseeing the pending Trump University lawsuit were racist.
On Sunday morning’s “Meet the Press,” Chuck Todd repeatedly asked McConnell if Trump calling U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel’s “Mexican heritage” an “absolute conflict” to the case was racist. “I couldn’t disagree more with what he says,” McConnell replied. When pressed by Todd again, McConnell said he “didn’t agree” with Trump’s comments. But he also pointed avoided saying that Trump’s comments were not racist, which he could have done with a simple “no.”
While McConnell voiced concerns about the GOP reaching out to the Hispanic vote, he noted that America wants a “different direction” and that this is certainly something Trump provides, signalling it was time for further unity. “We’re all behind him now. I’d like to see him reach out and pull us all together,” McConnell told Todd.
Trump first commented on Curiel in a Wall Street Journal interview last week, and he reiterated his comments to CNN’s Jake Tapper on Friday. “We’re building a wall. He’s a Mexican. The answer is he’s giving us unfair rulings. This judge is giving us unfair rulings,” Trump told Tapper.
On Saturday, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended Trump, saying the presumptive GOP nominee “has a right” to question if the Trump University judge is acting fairly, invoking reasons beyond the judge’s race.
