Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump says Republicans who might be angry about Mr. Trump’s recent comments invoking the Mexican heritage of a judge overseeing a case against Trump University need to “get over it.”
“I don’t care where the judge comes from or where judges come from - I just want to get a fair shake,” Mr. Trump said in an interview that aired on Tuesday’s “Hannity” program on Fox News. “And we’ve had some very unfair opinions coming down, and you wonder what’s going on.”
Mr. Trump has said Indiana-born Judge Gonzalo Curiel has a conflict of interest in the case because of his Mexican heritage and the fact that Mr. Trump has pledged to build a wall along the United States’ southern border.
Many Republicans - including former 2016 GOP candidates Jeb Bush and John Kasich, for example - have criticized Mr. Trump for the remarks.
“And I will tell you - it’s a little disappointing, some of the Republicans,” Mr. Trump said. “And in all fairness, they’re some of the people that I went through war with, and I won, and there’s a lot of anxiety there. There’s a lot of anger, I guess - anger.”
“They just can’t come back. They can’t get over it,” he said. “So they have to get over it, ideally. As to whether or not they endorse me, it’s okay if they don’t. But they have to get over it. They shouldn’t be so angry for so long.”
GOP Sen. Mark Kirk, who is in a tough re-election fight this year in Illinois, also said Mr. Trump’s comments about the judge, coupled with other attacks, ultimately pushed him to the point where he will not support the presumptive nominee. Mr. Kirk had previously said he would support Mr. Trump if he was the nominee.
Mr. Trump had issued a lengthy statement on Tuesday saying his comments had been “misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage.”
“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,” he said in the statement.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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