Donald Trump may be doubling down on his controversial comments about a Mexican-American judge, but they're causing significant heartburn for even his strongest supporters who are having to answer for them.
California state Sen. Joel Anderson (R) is a pledged delegate for Trump and went on NPR's "Morning Edition" Tuesday to talk about why the presumptive GOP nominee is so great. It was part of a segment about whether Trump and the GOP will have trouble with Latino voters.
"The press can say that he's a racist, they can do all the things that they want to do, but we're tired of being lied to by the press, and we think there's a better future for our children, and we're willing to fight for it," Anderson said. "There's so much more going on than this nonsense about a judge. I mean, look, he deserves a fair trial like every American deserves a fair trial."
Anderson himself invoked Trump's comments about U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel; NPR host Renee Montagne did not specifically ask about them. But he then bristled when Montagne pressed him more on whether Trump's remarks were racist and accused her of conducting an "ambush interview."
MONTAGNE: Certainly Donald Trump deserves a fair trial in this civil suit about Trump University. But Republican Party leaders, including Speaker Paul Ryan, including Senate leader Mitch McConnell, all pushed back on him for saying that a judge cannot be fair in a case because he is of Mexican descent. Or adding to that, a Muslim might not also be able to be fair if it involves Muslims. Is it not the definition of racism? Presuming their race or ethnicity or religion overrides everything.
ANDERSON: You know what, I can't speak for Donald Trump on that. You know, I don't know the full story of all that. But every American deserves a fair trial. And if somebody's been influenced, and they're not listening with fair ears, well, that's a problem. I'm really not interested in an ambush interview.
Curiel is in Trump’s crosshairs because he is handling two lawsuits against Trump University, the for-profit school that former employees have called a "fraudulent scheme" that “preyed upon the elderly and uneducated to separate them from their money.” Curiel recently ordered the release of embarrassing internal documents, which set off Trump’s anger. Trump said he believed the judge was "Mexican" and therefore unable to be impartial in the case because of the candidate's anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Curiel was born in Indiana to parents who emigrated from Mexico.
Montagne pressed Anderson more on Trump's comments, saying the GOP candidate seems to want people to take him at his word. Anderson again accused her of conducting an ambush interview and said she was picking on him.
"We've seen story after story from the beginning of ambush interviews looking for the poison dart to kill Donald Trump," he said. "You haven't found any in the press, and now you're picking on a senator to try to find something. Look, I see him as an economic engine that's going to help everybody get back to work and be more prosperous."
Trump has put his supporters in a tough position, forced to choose between defending him or awkwardly distancing themselves from the man they're backing to be the next president.
On Tuesday morning, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Trump's remarks were "the textbook definition of a racist comment." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he “couldn’t disagree more" with Trump's remarks but stopped short of calling them racism. Even former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who desperately seems to want to be Trump's running mate, said the comments were "inexcusable."
While some Trump campaign staffers have tried to tell surrogates to avoid talking about anything regarding Trump University, the candidate himself told his top surrogates to intensify criticism of both the judge and journalists.
"The people asking the questions -- those are the racists," Trump said in a conference call Monday. "I would go at 'em."
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.
