Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:
xEmbed
xShare
House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that Donald Trump made the "textbook definition of a racist comment" in saying an American-born judge isn't qualified to preside over a case because of his Mexican heritage. (June 7)
Donald J. Trump(Photo: Mark DiOrio, AP)
As primary season ended Tuesday, presumptive Republican nominee<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Donald Trump faced the prospect of a revolt by GOP<span style="color: Red;">*</span>lawmakers who say his harsh,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>racially charged rhetoric will cost them elections up and down the ballot.
One Republican senator, Mark Kirk of Illinois, became the first prominent lawmaker to rescind his endorsement of Trump, citing his attacks on the ethnicity of Gonzalo Curiel,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a federal judge who is presiding over a fraud case against the New York businessman.
Trump, meanwhile, sought to clarify his comments, saying in a statement they had been "misconstrued."
"I do not feel that one’s heritage makes them incapable of being impartial," Trump said, "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."
The businessman did not apologize, and used a nearly 700-word statement to argue his side of a lawsuit against Trump University.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>He ended<span style="color: Red;">*</span>by noting that a trial<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is scheduled for November, and "I do not intend to comment on this matter any further."
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Trump's comments about Curiel's heritage amount to "textbook" racism, though<span style="color: Red;">*</span>he said he would continue to support the businessman<span style="color: Red;">*</span>over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Other Republicans said they cannot back Trump and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>even suggested the possibility of a challenge at next month's convention.
USA TODAY
Paul Ryan rips Trump comments as 'textbook definition of racist'
“As of now, unless he changes significantly, I can’t see myself voting for Donald Trump,” said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a long-time opponent of Trump.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Flake<span style="color: Red;">*</span>told the Associated Press that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>while there's no talk of a convention challenge at this point, Trump's comments about the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>judge presiding over a lawsuit<span style="color: Red;">*</span>against him<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"might spur it."
In announcing his withdrawal of support, Kirk — facing a tough re-election race back in Illinois —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said Trump "has not demonstrated the temperament necessary to assume the greatest office in the world.”
USA TODAY
Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk says he won't support Trump
Trump has maintained his attacks on Curiel, saying his "Mexican heritage" may influence rulings in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a fraud lawsuit against the now-shuttered Trump University. Trump, who<span style="color: Red;">*</span>has criticized illegal immigration from Mexico<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and wants to build a wall along the U.S. southern border, told Fox News that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"it's a civil lawsuit that should have been dismissed a long time ago but the judge is treating me very unfairly."
In his statement Tuesday, Trump said Curiel has made bad rulings in the case and belongs to legal organizations that are hostile to his candidacy. "Questions were raised regarding the Obama-appointed Judge’s impartiality," Trump said. "It is a fair question. I hope it is not the case."
Curiel is a former federal prosecutor who was born in Indiana. His parents were born in Mexico.
The Manhattan real estate mogul who wrapped up the Republican presidential nomination in early May is scheduled to speak Tuesday night as he is poised to claim<span style="color: Red;">*</span>wins in the final five GOP delegate contests: California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and South Dakota.
The billionaire's attacks on<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Curiel have been likened to Joe McCarthy-like Communist witch hunts, and have prompted pressure on Republican leaders to pull their support of the New York businessman.
"Claiming a person can't do their job because of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment," Ryan told reporters Tuesday. "If you say something that's wrong, I think the mature and responsible thing is to acknowledge it."
Still, the Wisconsin Republican said Trump is a better bet than<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clinton, and "I think if we go into the fall as a divided party, we are doomed to lose."
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., speaks in Washington on June 7, 2016.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Mark Wilson, Getty Images)
Senate Majority Leader<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said it's time for Trump to stop attacking political rivals and members of minority groups, adding that "we're all anxious to hear what he may say next."
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., speaking on MSNBC's Morning Joe, said of Trump: "He still has time to pivot — time is running short, but he has time to do that."
Republicans who have been involved in various anti-Trump efforts said the presumptive nominee's problems have been all too predictable. GOP consultant Liz Mair said a string of Trump comments have alienated Hispanic, African-American, and female voters<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and could win up costing the party control of the House and Senate, this year and in the future.
"He is so repellent to so many demographics," Mair said. "There is a real risk of lasting damage."
Republican strategist<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Rich Galen said many Republicans will rally around Trump because he is the only alternative to Clinton. The businessman "has sales skills, not political skills," Galen said. "So far his sales skills have carried him. Whether they work in the general election, we'll see."
One challenge for Trump, little more than a month before the convention opens in Cleveland,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is to unite the Republican Party.
[h=4]Posted![/h]A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.
GOP consultant Bruce Haynes, said there are basically three groups of Republicans, including one that finds Trump to be a very<span style="color: Red;">*</span>acceptable alternative to Clinton.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Another group does not find Trump acceptable, while a third is in a "wait-and-see mode," said Haynes, founding partner of the Washington-based firm<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Purple Strategies.
That third group, he said,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is "the key to him having a chance."
Trump, who also called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, has also questioned whether Muslim judges could be fair.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., calling Trump's judicial attacks "the most un-American thing from a politician since Joe McCarthy," told The New York Times: “If anybody was looking for an off-ramp, this is probably it ... There’ll come a time when the love of country will trump hatred of Hillary.”
McCarthy, a U.S. senator from Wisconsin from 1947 to 1957, led a series of congressional hearings investigating suspected Communists in the federal government. He was censured by the Senate in 1954 and died of hepatitis exacerbated by alcoholism in 1957.
Trump does have many defenders among Republicans.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a potential running mate for Trump, told reporters that the businessman is not a racist. Christie said that Ryan is entitled to his opinion, but criticized Graham as a sore loser to Trump in the GOP presidential race.
ASBURY PARK PRESS
Chris Christie says Donald Trump is not a racist
Christie, who met with the candidate Tuesday at Trump Tower, told reporters that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“it’s refreshing to have somebody who’s willing to speak their mind and is not reading from a script.’’
Trump himself says his campaign will prevail in the long run.
"I want to focus on the economy, I want to focus on the military," Trump said on Fox News. "I want to focus on things that we need to focus on. Not a civil lawsuit that I'm going to end up winning anyway."
USA TODAY
Elections 2016 | USA TODAY Network
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed