WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans are warning their presumptive presidential nominee to lay off the Latino judge presiding over a lawsuit against Trump University and make good on a promise to unite the fractured GOP. One prominent supporter urged the candidate to start acting like “a potential leader of the United States.”
“We’re all behind him now,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned, adding that it’s time for unifying the party, not “settling scores and grudges.”
“I hope he’ll change his direction.”
So far, Trump has refused, reiterating in interviews broadcast Sunday that U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel’s Mexican heritage means he cannot ensure a fair trial involving a billionaire who wants to build a border wall to keep people from illegally entering the United States from Mexico. Curiel was born in Indiana to Mexican-born parents – making him, in Trump’s view, “a hater of Donald Trump.”
“I couldn’t disagree more” with Trump’s central argument, McConnell said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”