Donald Trump said Tuesday it was “unfortunate” that his recent comments about the judge in the case against Trump University were “misconstrued” to be racial.
In the last week, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee had openly questioned the ability of U.S. district court judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was born in Indiana to Mexican immigrants, to preside over his case because Trump was proposing to build a wall between the United States and Mexico.
Trump published a prepared statement Tuesday afternoon on his campaign website that his concerns about receiving a fair trial were “misconstrued” to be racist, but stopped short of apologizing or rescinding those comments.
“It is unfortunate that my comments have been misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage. I am friends with and employ thousands of people of Mexican and Hispanic descent,” said Trump in the statement. “The American justice system relies on fair and impartial judges. All judges should be held to that standard. I do not feel that one’s heritage makes them incapable of being impartial, but, based on the rulings that I have received in the Trump University civil case, I feel justified in questioning whether I am receiving a fair trial.”
In his statement, Trump laid out his argument for why he believes the details of the case favor his position and then reiterated his view that the rulings so far in the case have been “unfair and mistaken.”
“[T]he Judge’s reported associations with certain professional organizations, questions were raised regarding the Obama appointed Judge’s impartiality. It is a fair question. I hope it is not the case,” Trump said, adding that he does “not intend to comment on this matter any further.”
But were Trump’s comments really “misconstrued”? In a tough exchange with CNN’s Jake Tapper late last week, Trump stated pretty clearly that he was, in fact, calling into question Curiel’s impartiality because of his Mexican heritage.
“If you invoke his race as a reason why he can’t do his job,” Tapper said, before Trump interrupted. “I think that’s why he’s doing it,” Trump said.
In comments before and since that interview, Trump had made a point of noting Curiel’s Mexican heritage (frequently referring to him as a “Mexican,” though he’s not a Mexican national and was born in the United States) and said the judge has an “inherent conflict of interest” because of Trump’s position as a leading presidential candidate campaigning on stopping illegal immigration across the Mexican border.
Trump’s Tuesday statement simply repackages this argument without substantively changing it.
“Normally, legal issues in a civil case would be heard in a neutral environment,” he writes. “However, given my unique circumstances as nominee of the Republican Party and the core issues of my campaign that focus on illegal immigration, jobs and unfair trade, I have concerns as to my ability to receive a fair trial.”
So what’s the point of the statement? Trump has come under fire from leaders in his own party in recent days, such as House speaker Paul Ryan and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell. One GOP senator, Illinois’s Mark Kirk, has rescinded his promise to vote for Trump in the general election because of the comments. The presumptive nominee is undoubtedly feeling pressured to step away from the controversy, even as he just a day earlier encouraged his staff and surrogates to remain on the offensive about the Trump University case and Judge Curiel.
