Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich ripped Donald Trump on Sunday for claiming U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel can’t impartially handle a lawsuit involving the billionaire because he’s “Mexican.”
“This is one of the worst mistakes Trump has made,” Gingrich, who’s been floated as a potential running mate for Trump, told Fox News.
“I think it’s inexcusable. He has every right to criticize a judge, and has every right to say certain decisions aren’t right, and his attorneys can file to move the venue from the judge,” Gingrich said. “But first of all, this judge was born in Indiana, he’s an American, period,” he added.
Trump has refused to back down after criticizing Curiel’s ethnicity and suggesting he recuse himself from the case.
“We’re building a wall. He’s a Mexican. The answer is he’s giving us unfair rulings,” the presumptive Republican nominee told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Friday when asked if his attacks on Curiel are “racist.”
