After a day of uncharacteristic silence, Donald Trump released a statement regarding Trump University this afternoon. Unsurprisingly, Trump did not apologize to Judge Curiel for his slanderous accusations and attempted to construe himself as the victim, claiming that his “comments have been misconstrued.”
“Donald Trump’s extensive record of employing both coded and explicit racial attacks goes well beyond his most recent assault on the impartiality of Judge Curiel based solely on his ‘Mexican heritage,'” said American Bridge President Jessica Mackler. “Trump can’t ‘pivot’ away from a campaign that began with a racist assertion that Mexico is sending rapists and criminals and has continued to regularly denigrate a wide range of communities.”
Background:
When Launching His Campaign, Donald Trump Said That Mexican Immigrants Are “Bringing Drugs. They’re Bringing Crime. They’re Rapists. And Some, I Assume, Are Good People.”
According to CNBC, “But Trump widened that divide — and began his rise to the top of Republican polls with hot rhetoric in his presidential announcement speech about who was crossing America’s southern border. ‘When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,’ he declared in June. ‘They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.’” [CNBC,10/28/15]
Trump: “Somebody’s Doing The Raping.”
“Don Lemon: I’ve read the — I’ve read The Washington Post. I’ve read the Fusion. I’ve read the Huffington Post. And that’s about women being raped. It’s not about criminals coming across the border or entering the country. Donald Trump: Well, somebody’s doing the raping, Don. I mean, you know — I mean, somebody’s doing just think women are being rape. Well, who’s doing the raping? Who’s doing the raping?” [“CNN Tonight,” CNN, 7/1/15]
Donald Trump: “I’ll Use The Word Anchor Baby.”
“Reporter: Anchor baby, that’s an offensive term, people find that hurtful. Donald Trump: You mean it’s not political correct and yet everybody uses it? Reporter: Look it up in the dictionary, it’s offensive. Trump: Give me a different term, give me a different term. What else would you like to say. Reporter: A child, an American born child of an undocumented immigrant. Trump: You want me to say that, okay, I use the word anchor baby. Excuse me, I’ll use the word anchor baby.” [Donald Trump, Press Conference, Derry, NH, 8/19/15]
Donald Trump: “You’re Wrong About The 14th Amendment, And Frankly, The Whole Thing With Anchor Babies, And The Concept Of Anchor Babies, I Don’t Think You Are Right About That.”
Donald Trump: I think you’re wrong about the 14th Amendment, and frankly, the whole thing with anchor babies, and the concept of anchor babies, I don’t think you are right about that. O’Reilly: I can quote it. You want me to quote you the amendment? If you’re born here, you’re an American. Period. Period. [“O’Reilly Factor,” Fox News, 8/18/15]
Trump: “If You Look At The Statistics On Rape, On Crime, On Everything Coming In Illegally Into This Country, They’re Mind Boggling.” “Well, if you look at the statistics, our people come — I didn’t see about Mexicans. I say the illegal immigrants. If you look at the statistics on rape, on crime, on everything coming in illegally into this country, they’re mind boggling. If you go to Fusion, you will see a story about 80 percent of the women coming in, I mean, you have to take a look at these stories. And you know who owns Fusion? Univision.” [“CNN Tonight,” CNN, 7/1/15]
Trump: “You’re Going To Have A Deportation Force, And You’re Going To Do It Humanely.”
Trump: You’re going to have a deportation force, and you’re going to do it humanely and you’re going to bring the country — and, frankly, the people, because you have some excellent, wonderful people, some fantastic people that have been here for a long period of time. Don’t forget, Mika, that you have millions of people that are waiting in line to come into this country and they’re waiting to come in legally. And I always say the wall, we’re going to build the wall. It’s going to be a real deal. It’s going to be a real wall. [“Morning Joe,” MSNBC, 11/11/15
Trump Said He Would Deport The American Born Children Of Undocumented Immigrants: “We Have To Keep The Families Together But They Have To Go.”
“Chuck Todd: So you’re going to split up families? Donald Trump: Chuck. Todd: You’re going to deport children– Trump: Chuck. No, no. We’re going to keep the families together. We have to keep the families together. Todd: But you’re going to keep them together out– Trump: But they have to go. But they have to go. Todd: What if they have no place to go? Trump: We will work with them. They have to go. Chuck, we either have a country or we don’t have a country.” [“Meet the Press,” NBC, 8/16/15
When Asked If He Would Disavow David Duke, The KKK And Other White Supremacist Groups, Trump Instead Said “I Know Nothing About David Duke. I Know Nothing About White Supremacists.”
According to an interview by Donald Trump On CNN’s State Of The Union With Jake Tapper, “TAPPER: I want to ask you about the Anti-Defamation League, which this week called on you to publicly condemn unequivocally the racism of former KKK grand wizard David Duke, who recently said that voting against you at this point would be treason to your heritage. Will you unequivocally condemn David Duke and say that you don’t want his vote or that of other white supremacists in this election? TRUMP: Well, just so you understand, I don’t know anything about David Duke. OK? I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. So, I don’t know. I don’t know, did he endorse me or what’s going on, because, you know, I know nothing about David Duke. I know nothing about white supremacists. And so you’re asking me a question that I’m supposed to be talking about people that I know nothing about. […] TAPPER: OK. I mean, I’m just talking about David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan here, but… TRUMP: I don’t know any — honestly, I don’t know David Duke. I don’t believe I have ever met him. I’m pretty sure I didn’t meet him. And I just don’t know anything about him.”” [CNN’s State Of The Union With Jake Tapper, 2/28/16]
John O’Donnell, Trump Associate, Said Trump Did Not Like “Black Guys Counting My Money” And Preferred “Short Guys In Yarmulkes.”
According to Donald Trump: A Biography Of The Mogul Turned Presidential Candidate, “For instance, a former Trump associate, John O’Donnell, wrote that Trump would often describe black people as being lazy and stupid; he would bemoan the ‘black guys counting my money.’ He would prefer the ‘short guys that wear yarmulkes.’ It wasn’t only African-Americans who had earned Trump’s derision. Years later, Trump told Playboy that these remarks were ‘probably true.’” [Donald Trump: A Biography Of The Mogul Turned Presidential Candidate, 2015]
Trump Black Lives Matter Protester Was Physically Assaulted At A Rally; Trump Later Said “Maybe He Should Have Been Roughed Up.”
According to The Berkshire Eagle, “According to The Berkshire Eagle, “The event made international headlines as one of a growing number of physical ejections of protesters from Trump properties and rallies. The most prominent saw a protester in Alabama get kicked and punched by Trump supporters after he shouted ‘Black Lives Matter.’ […] ‘Maybe he should have been roughed up,’ Trump later told Fox News.” [Berkshire Eagle, 1/10/16]
Trump Campaign, 2015: “Donald J. Trump Is Calling For A Total And Complete Shutdown Of Muslims Entering The United States Until Our Country’s Representatives Can Figure Out What Is Going On.”
According to a statement from the Donald J. Trump campaign, “Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” [Donald J. Trump Campaign, 12/7/15]
2015: “Trump Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski Said Trump’s Proposed Ban Would Apply To ‘Everybody,’ Including Muslims Seeking Immigration Visas As Well As Tourists Seeking To Enter The Country.”
According to Associated Press, “Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said Trump’s proposed ban would apply to ‘everybody,’ including Muslims seeking immigration visas as well as tourists seeking to enter the country.” [Associated Press, 12/7/15]
Trump National Campaign Spokesperson Katrina Pierson On Proposed Muslim Ban, 2015: “So What? They’re Muslim.”
According to National Journal, “When Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the country, saying ‘we have no choice’ given the threat of terrorism, newly hired ‘national-campaign spokeswoman’ Katrina Pierson on CNN refuted the argument that it was discriminatory this way: ‘So what? They’re Muslim.’” [National Journal, 12/29/15]
Trump, 2015: “I Want Surveillance Of Certain Mosques. You Know What? We’ve Had It Before And We’ll Have It Again.”
According to Breitbart, “GOP front runner Donald Trump is tearing into the media, and vowing to fight terrorists. Before an enthusiastic crowd of 10,000 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex on Saturday, Trump told the crowd, ‘They’re dishonest people. The media is so dishonest.’ Trump then set the record straight on how he wants to deal with the ISIS terrorist threat to America. ‘I want surveillance of certain mosques,’ he told the crowd. ‘You know what? We’ve had it before and we’ll have it again.’” [Breitbart, 11/21/15]
Trump, 2015: “We’re Going To Have No Choice” But To Shut Down Mosques In America.
According to The Hill, “GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump says the United States has ‘absolutely no choice’ but to close down mosques where ‘some bad things are happening.’ ‘Nobody wants to say this and nobody wants to shut down religious institutions or anything, but you know, you understand it,’ Trump said on Fox News’s ‘Hannity’ on Tuesday. ‘A lot of people understand it. We’re going to have no choice.’ Trump said on Monday he would ‘strongly consider’ closing mosques if elected in response to the terrorist attacks in France last Friday that killed at least 129 people and injured hundreds more.” [The Hill, 11/18/15]
Trump On Proposed National Registration For Muslims, 2015: He “Would Certainly Implement That — Absolutely.”
According to the New York Times, “Donald J. Trump, who earlier in the week said he was open to requiring Muslims in the United States to register in a database, said on Thursday night that he ‘would certainly implement that — absolutely.’ Mr. Trump was asked about the issue by an NBC News reporter and pressed on whether all Muslims in the country would be forced to register. ‘They have to be,’ he said. ‘They have to be.’” [New York Times, 11/20/15]
At Campaign Event, Trump Told Apocryphal Story About U.S. Gen. John Perishing Who Order 49 Muslim Filipino Prisoners Executed With Bullets Dipped In Pigs Blood.
According to CNN, “Donald Trump on Friday cited an apocryphal story about a U.S. general who purportedly dipped bullets in pigs’ blood to execute Muslim prisoners a century ago in an effort to deter Islamic terrorism. Speaking at a rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, Trump reiterated his claim that the U.S. should ‘go much further’ than waterboarding suspected terrorists, telling the story of Gen. John Pershing in the Philippines, who Trump said captured 50 Muslim prisoners a century ago and dipped 50 bullets in blood. ‘And he lined up the 50 people and they shot 49 of those 50 people, and he said to the 50th, you go back to your people and you tell them what happened — and in 25 years there wasn’t a problem,’ Trump said to the audience, which grew quiet as he told the story.” [CNN, 2/19/16]
Trump: Some Muslims Are “A Very Severe Problem.”
“I feel strongly that Muslims are excellent. I know so many Muslims that are such fabulous people. But there is a problem. I mean, there’s no question about it. And, you know, we can be politically correct, and we can say there is no problem whatsoever. But the fact is, there is a problem with some. And it’s a very severe problem. And it’s a problem that’s taking place all over the world. But I have such great respect and love for so many of the people. I mean, they are great people.” [“Meet the Press,” NBC, 9/20/15]
Published: Jun 7, 2016