title:  Trump Goes Birther On Federal Judge Presiding Over Trump U Fraud Case: He’s A ‘Mexican!’
text: Donald Trump has repeatedly sworn he loves Hispanics and Hispanics love him, but not   apparently   when it comes to the judge presiding over his Trump University fraud trial.Trump, whose guilt in this case is almost beyond doubt, swears that if he loses the case (which is looking likely), it s not because he is a shameless con man. No, it s because the judge is a  hater  and a Mexican. We re in front of a very hostile judge,  Mr. Trump said.  The judge was appointed by Barack Obama, federal judge. Frankly, he should recuse himself because he s given us ruling after ruling after ruling, negative, negative, negative. What happens is the judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great. I think that s fine,  Mr. Trump said.The only problem: Judge Gonzalo Curiel is from Indiana not Mexico. Which is great. I think Indiana s fine.It s not the first time Trump has gone birther, of course. He famously set fire to piles of his own money in a quixotic quest to prove President Obama wasn t born in the United States. At several points, Trump even claimed to have proof, but never produced a single shred of evidence. His new accusations do, however, represent the first time Trump has claimed Mexicans   aside from being rapists and drug dealers   are infiltrating the federal justice system to screw over Trump personally.Why would they do that? Trump supporters seem to believe it s because of Trump s immigration plans. Facing a crowd of supporters who had killed time before Trump got up to the podium by mindlessly chanting  build that wall,  Trump knew exactly what he was doing when he suddenly floated the idea that the judge who is about to rule against him is a secret Mexican. He was quite literally preaching to the choir.All of this undermines Trump s assurances that Hispanic voters will flock to him in November. If he sincerely believes a federal judge would be prejudiced against him in his court case because of his Hispanic heritage, then it s not hard to imagine the rest of the Hispanic and Latino population would be repulsed by his message of anti-immigrant hate. He can t have it both ways.Trump closed his remarks by promising to file a lawsuit against Judge Curiel when he becomes president. I m telling you, this court system, judges in this court system, federal court, they ought to look into Judge Curiel. Because what Judge Curiel is doing is a total disgrace, OK? But we ll come back in November. Wouldn t that be wild if I m president and I come back to do a civil case? The audience roared   the same audience that at one time probably raged at President Obama for taking a day to go golfing. Suddenly, a president who spends his time in office wrapped up in a personal civil case to settle a grudge is A-OK.Featured image via Spencer Platt/Getty Images