News / Politics

Trump urged to apologize for 'racist' remarks about judge

Thursday, 09 June 2016 9:35 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 09 June 2016 9:49 AM ]

Donald Trump addresses supporters and the media following primary elections on June 7, 2016 in Briarcliff Manor, New York. ©AFP

A group of Latino activists has called on the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump, to apologize for his recent "racist" remarks about a US judge with Mexican heritage.

Representatives from leading Latino rights groups and Hispanic legal organizations condemned on Wednesday the remarks made by Trump about US District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, the son of Mexican immigrants.

Trump said last week that Judge Curiel was biased against him in lawsuits involving fraud allegations against Trump University, the billionaire’s real estate training school.

The judge ordered parts of unsealed documents to be released as part of the lawsuit against the university.

Trump claimed that the judge’s Mexican heritage had influenced his opinion because of the presumptive nominee’s plan to build a wall on the US-Mexico border upon winning the presidential election in November.

The group said Trump should apologize for his comments if he wants to lessen its damage on both the Latino community and the Republican Party.

Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at the Trump Tower on May 31, 2016 in New York. © AFP

Robert Maldonado, head of the National Hispanic Bar Association, said Trump had implied that the members of judiciary who are from a certain background or race cannot fulfill their duties.

"Trump's attack on just Curiel is an attack on all of the honorable, diverse judges that serve our nation," Maldonado said.

"Trump's statements about our judicial system will have a lasting impact on public opinion and confidence in that system. We face a dismal future if we are led to believe that judges who do not look like us cannot be impartial," he added.

The presumptive nominee addressed the issue in a statement on Tuesday but refused to apologize and instead said, “My comments have been misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage.”

Trump also said in an interview with Fox News that critics should “get over it.”

Janet Murguia, from the advocacy group National Council of La Raza, said Trump’s comments about the judge could not be misunderstood, but were “remarkably consistent” with statements he had made since he started his campaign.

“It is repugnant, un-American and a slap in the face to our increasingly diverse judiciary and to all of us who participate in this democracy. The Latino community has not misconstrued Trump’s remarks,” she said.

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