Attacks Judge Gonzalo Curiel as a “Mexican” “hater” overseeing Trump University case

At a late May 2016 rally in San Diego, held near the courthouse hearing fraud lawsuits against Trump University, Trump spent several minutes berating the presiding federal judge, Gonzalo Curiel. He repeatedly emphasized that Curiel was “Mexican,” called him a “hater of Donald Trump,” and claimed the judge had an “absolute conflict” because of Trump’s promise to build a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, even though Curiel was born in Indiana. Trump’s comments, widely condemned as racist and an attack on judicial independence, sent a clear message that a judge’s ethnic background and supposed views on immigration made him inherently suspect if he stood in Trump’s way. The episode fits a broader pattern of targeting individuals’ heritage and loyalty to delegitimize oversight and legal accountability.

"The judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great. I think that’s fine. But he’s a hater of Donald Trump, a hater. He’s treating us very unfairly, and they ought to look into Judge Curiel." — San Diego campaign rally on May 27, 2016, held near the courthouse handling Trump University fraud lawsuits, where Trump singled out U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel as a biased “Mexican” “hater” because of Trump’s immigration and wall rhetoric