Paul Ryan Calls Trump’s Attack on Judge “Racist”

WASHINGTON – U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Ill.) said on Tuesday that the attacks made by his party’s presumptive presidential nominee, magnate Donald Trump, on a judge of Mexican heritage meet “the textbook definition of a racist comment.”

“I regret those comments that he made,” said Ryan, who – as House Speaker – is the highest-ranking elected Republican, at an event held in Washington to present a plan to fight poverty.

The Republican leader was referring to accusations made by Trump against Indiana-born Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is tasked with hearing lawsuits alleging fraud committed by the “university” bearing the magnate’s name.

Last Friday, Curiel ordered the publication of more than 1,000 pages of court documents on Trump University because of the public interest in the case, which began in 2010 in the Southern California district, based in San Diego.

In response, the billionaire accused the judge of making that decision because of his Mexican heritage, which he said was a conflict of interest on Curiel’s part because of his own plan to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico to stem the flow of illegal immigrants.

Ryan said Tuesday that “claiming a person can’t do their job because of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment.”

“I think that should be absolutely disavowed,” said the speaker, adding that the New York real estate developer’s comments were “indefensible.”

Ryan criticized Trump last week on the same subject, albeit in a much more moderate tone.

Also last week, the Republican leader officially declared his support for Trump in the November election after much hesitation due to the billionaire’s incendiary rhetoric.

Trump’s comments about Curiel, whom he accuses of treating him unfairly in investigating the claims of fraud against Trump University, have sparked heated controversy throughout the United States.

Trump University has been depicted in court documents as an unscrupulous business that pressured poor enrollees to buy its courses in real estate purchasing, management and finance costing almost $35,000.