Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said Tuesday that Donald Trump’s comments about the Hispanic Indiana-born judge in his Trump University case are “indefensible.”
In a press conference in Washington, D.C. on poverty Tuesday, Ryan said that he “absolutely disavow[s]” what Trump has said about Judge Gonzalo Curiel — that Curiel cannot be fair because of his “Mexican heritage.”
“I think they’re wrong. I don’t think they’re right-headed, and the thinking behind it is something I don’t even personally relate to,” Ryan said. (RELATED: Meet The Pro-Illegal Immigrant Groups The La Raza Lawyers Of San Diego Consider Part Of Their ‘Community’)
Later, when asked if Trump’s comment’s would “undercut” the Republican party’s agenda, Ryan said, “I do think these kinds of comments undercut these things, and I’m not even going to pretend to defend them.”
Ryan noted that he has discussed the “tone” of Trump’s campaign with the candidate.
Ryan, who has endorsed Trump, said his comments are “defined” by the textbook definition of racism, continued, “I am not going to defend these kind of comments because they’re indefensible. I’m going to defend our ideas, I’m going to defend our majority, and I think our likelihood of getting these ideas into law are far more likely if we are unified as a party.”
“So I see it as my job as speaker of the House to help keep our party unified. I think if we go into the fall as a divided party, we are doomed to lose, and that is why I’m going to be focusing on these ideas, these solutions, and not attempt to try to defend the indefensible,” he said. (VIDEO: Judge Presiding Over Trump University Case Is Member Of La Raza Lawyers Group)
A reporter asked, “What do you make of Donald Trump doubling down on those remarks about the judge and essentially saying let’s go out there and fight it.”
Ryan replied, “I just fundamentally disagree with that. I think it’s wrong. The way I look at this is if you say something that’s wrong, I think the mature and responsible thing to do is to acknowledge it was wrong.”