Donald Trump has stepped up his attacks on the judge presiding over the Trump University class action lawsuit, saying Thursday his "Mexican heritage" should preclude him from working the case.
U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel has "an absolute conflict" in the case because of his "Mexican heritage" and his membership in a Latino lawyers association,
reports The Wall Street Journal.
"I'm building a wall. It's an inherent conflict of interest," Trump said.
Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, also accused Curiel of being an ex-colleague and friend of a lawyer representing one of the plaintiffs in the civil case.
"Neither Judge Curiel's ethnicity nor the fact that we crossed paths as prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office well over a decade ago is to blame" for Trump's remarks, said the attorney, Jason Forge.
Curiel would not comment, but his brother told the Journal, "He's taking it pretty much in stride."
With the Trump University case making headlines, Trump has been critical of the case and the judge. He called him a
"hater of Donald Trump" this week.
Last Friday,
Trump said Curiel "happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great. I think that's fine."
On Thursday, Trump used Twitter to blast the case.
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