Trump Attacks Federal Judge Curiel as "Mexican" Despite Indiana Birth, Paul Ryan Calls It "Textbook Racism"

Donald Trump launched racist attacks against U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was presiding over the Trump University fraud lawsuits, falsely claiming the judge’s Mexican heritage created bias against him. At a San Diego rally in late May and in subsequent media interviews, Trump repeatedly called Curiel “Mexican” despite the judge being born in Indiana, and claimed Curiel could not be fair because Trump wanted to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump told the Wall Street Journal that Curiel’s Mexican heritage presented an “absolute conflict” and told CNN “He’s a Mexican. We’re building a wall between here and Mexico.” The attacks drew widespread condemnation across the political spectrum, with House Speaker Paul Ryan calling Trump’s comments “sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment.” Trump spent 11 minutes at the San Diego rally attacking Curiel, calling him “a hater of Donald Trump, a hater. He’s a hater.”

Background

Judge Gonzalo Curiel, born in East Chicago, Indiana to Mexican immigrant parents, had a distinguished legal career including serving as a federal prosecutor who prosecuted major Mexican drug cartel cases and faced death threats for his work. Trump’s attacks on Curiel came immediately after the judge ordered the unsealing of damaging Trump University documents revealing predatory sales tactics and employee testimony describing the enterprise as a “fraudulent scheme.” The timing suggested Trump’s attacks were retaliation for judicial decisions requiring transparency rather than legitimate concerns about bias. Trump later attempted to walk back the comments, claiming they were “misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage,” while simultaneously maintaining he was justified in questioning whether he would receive a fair trial. When asked if a Muslim judge would also be biased against him, Trump said “It’s possible.”

Significance

Trump’s racist attacks on Judge Curiel represented an unprecedented assault on judicial independence from a major presidential candidate, suggesting judges should be disqualified based on racial or ethnic heritage. The attacks were widely condemned as textbook racism even by Trump’s Republican allies like Paul Ryan, revealing the extremity of the conduct. Trump’s suggestion that a judge’s ethnicity created inherent bias struck at the foundation of the American legal system’s commitment to impartial justice. The attacks also appeared to constitute witness intimidation and obstruction of justice—using public pressure and racist rhetoric to influence judicial decisions in pending civil litigation. The fact that even Trump’s political allies condemned the comments as racist demonstrated the severity of the offense. Trump’s willingness to attack a federal judge overseeing his fraud case revealed his view that anyone who held him accountable was an enemy to be destroyed, foreshadowing his attacks on law enforcement and judicial officials throughout his presidency and beyond.