Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told CNN last month he wouldn’t become Donald Trump’s “chief critic” between now and the November election. Now, the ex-White House hopeful appears unable to stand on the sidelines while Trump attacks a federal judge over his Mexican descent.
During an interview Monday with ABC’s Channel 9, Rubio described U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel as “an American, born in the U.S. [and] a judge who has earned that position.”
Trump has called on Curiel to recuse himself from handling a civil fraud case involving Trump University, contending that the judge’s Mexican heritage is an “inherent conflict of interest.”
“I don’t think it reflects well in the Republican Party. I don’t think it reflects wells on us as a nation,” Rubio said Monday.
The Florida senator added that he “warned this was going to happen” during the course of his own presidential campaign.
Rubio joins Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Ben Sasse of Nebraska, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in condemning Trump’s ongoing attacks against Curiel’s ability to perform his job impartially.
