GOP senator: Trump’s attacks on judge ‘very disturbing’

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) on Monday said presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s attack on Judge Gonzalo Curiel sets a troubling precedent for his possible presidency.

“His statements this week on the judge — that’s a new level,” Flake said on MSNBC. “It’s not just ill-informed or ignorant statements.

{mosads}“But they suggest when he’s president after November, you know, that he ought to go after the judge. That’s a whole new level. It’s very disturbing.”

Flake said Trump utilizing Curiel’s Hispanic heritage for an attack reinforces negative perceptions of Republicans.

“The whole thing we Republicans say we’re against is identity politics,” he said. “To say if you’re a certain gender or you’re a certain race you have to vote that way.

“He’s just trying to confirm that stereotype. It’s completely wrong. It is offensive; it really is. This week was a whole new level.”

Trump last Friday said Curiel’s “Mexican” ethnicity means he might act biased while overseeing lawsuits against Trump University.

“I think we’re going to do very well with Hispanics, but we’re building a wall,” he said on CNN. “He’s a Mexican. We’re building a wall between here and Mexico.

“The answer is, he is giving us very unfair rulings, rulings that people can’t even believe,” Trump said. “This case should have ended years ago.”

Curiel is overseeing a handful of lawsuits alleging Trump University defrauded students and left them saddled with debt. He is Hispanic and was born in Indiana.

Trump has repeatedly insisted most Trump University students had positive experiences and will ultimately vindicate him in court.