Trump tells surrogates to increase criticism of judge, journalists

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images)

During a conference call with prominent supporters on Monday, Donald Trump told them to publicly back up remarks he's made against a federal judge's Mexican heritage and to call reporters who ask about it "racist," Bloomberg Politics reports, citing "two supporters who were on the call."

Judge Gonzalo Curiel is presiding over fraud cases involving Trump University, and Trump has said Curiel has a conflict of interest because he is of Mexican ancestry (he was born in Indiana to Mexican immigrant parents) and Trump has proposed building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The sources say Trump told his advocates to question Curiel's credibility, as well as the integrity of reporters. "The people asking the questions — those are the racists," Trump reportedly said. "I would go at 'em." He also reassured the surrogates that "we will overcome. And I've always won and I'm going to continue to win. And that's the way it is."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.