GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump is "digging himself into holes" so deep with his "out of control" judge-bashing that he risks alienating his own party, New Mexico's former Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson tells
Newsmax TV.
In a wide-ranging interview Tuesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show," the former ambassador to the United Nations and ex—Clinton administration Secretary of Energy said Trump's unapologetic remarks about Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing lawsuits involving the defunct Trump University, is "going to cost him at the polls."
"I believe that Trump is out of control," Richardson declared. "I mean we cannot obviously politicize the judiciary. He is racially profiling, he's being racist in his comments about a judge that was born in Indiana [of] Mexican descent. … Trump is saying that the heritage of an individual, of a judge, is going to affect their judgment. This is also unconstitutional besides being racist."
Trump could have tried to politicize the issue, Richardson conceded.
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In a commentary in the
Washington Post, former Bush administration attorney general Alberto Gonzales wrote that in 2014, when Curiel certified the class-action lawsuit against Trump, he appointed a law firm to represent the plaintiffs that paid $675,000 in speaking fees to Hillary Clinton and former president Bill Clinton.
"If he had politicized it in terms of contributions it would have been more palatable, but it's still wrong," Richardson said. "There should not be an interference between Congress, the executive branch, and the judiciary and judges. Trump has done that… what he is doing, I believe, is digging himself into holes that even Republicans are not going to be able to support him."
On other issues, Richardson said:
- That Trump is right in his assessment of Richardson's successor, GOP Gov. Susana Martinez, as "a bad governor," but that he doesn't understand Trump criticizing the nation's "only Latina governor" and head of the GOP Governors Association.
"That's not a way to get her support by attacking her in her own hometown," he said. "He seems to be out of control in terms of his emotions, his temperament, and this is another reason why I think voters are going to reject him."
- That Clinton rival Sen. Bernie Sanders doesn't have to drop out of the primary just yet.
"I think eventually, yes, it doesn't have to be right away," he said. "I think what Sanders wants to be, and should be. is a statesman, a party leader in the future… has a major role in the convention, maybe in the picking of a vice president."
- That Clinton will eventually get a "majority" of Sanders' young supporters – but that she'll have to fight for the voters "up for grabs," including independent voters and "Republicans concerned about his positions on foreign policy and national security."
- That Trump "can't do foreign policy" the same way he runs his business empire.
"His call for meeting directly with [North Korea leader] Kim Jung-Un without preparatory work" while in another speech has " called him a nut" is unacceptable, Richardson said.
"You can't do foreign policy negotiating like for a casino or a reality show or a new hotel," he said. "This is serious life and death business."
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