<p><a type="internal">Donald Trump</a> has, finally, all but united the Republican Party &#8211; in denunciation of his <a type="internal">continued</a>, race-based attacks on U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is presiding over the civil lawsuits against the candidate&#8217;s <a type="internal">Trump University</a>.</p> 
<p>&#8220;I disavow these comments. I regret those comments that [Trump] made,&#8221; said House Speaker Paul Ryan during a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/07/politics/paul-ryan-donald-trump-racist-comment/index.html" type="external">press conference Tuesday</a>. &#8220;Claiming a person can&#8217;t do their job because of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment &#8230; it&#8217;s absolutely unacceptable.&#8221;</p> 
<p>And <a type="internal">Sen. Mark Kirk</a>, a Republican from Illinois facing a tough reelection battle this year, flat out withdrew his support for his party&#8217;s nominee, saying &#8220;Donald Trump&#8217;s belief that an American-born judge of Mexican descent is incapable of fairly presiding over his case is not only dead wrong, it is un-American.&#8221;</p> 
<p>Last week, Trump charged that his plan to build a wall between the U.S.-Mexican border was &#8220;an absolute conflict&#8221; of interest, charging to the <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-keeps-up-attacks-on-judge-gonzalo-curiel-1464911442" type="external">Wall Street Journal</a> that Curiel could not preside fairly over the Trump University case because he is &#8220;of Mexican heritage.&#8221; (Curiel was born in Indiana to Mexican immigrants.)</p> 
<p>Speaking again to CNN&#8217;s Jake Tapper last Friday, Trump <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/03/politics/donald-trump-tapper-lead/index.html" type="external">maintained his position</a>: &#8220;He&#8217;s a Mexican. We&#8217;re building a wall between here and Mexico.&#8221; When Tapper asked if, by saying that Curiel could not due his job because of his race, &#8220;is that not the definition of racism?&#8221; Trump responded, &#8220;No, I don&#8217;t think so at all.&#8221;</p> 
<p>Amid the fierce backlash from his own party, Trump put together a damage-control statement late Tuesday promising not to say anything more about Curiel or the lawsuit &#8211; after this: &#8220;It is unfortunate that my comments have been misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage. I am friends with and employ thousands of people of Mexican and Hispanic descent. &#8230; While this lawsuit should have been dismissed, it is now scheduled for trial in November. I do not intend to comment on this matter any further.&#8221;</p> 
<p>Just one day earlier, Trump encouraged supporters on a private conference call on Monday to join his chorus by publicly questioning the judge&#8217;s credibility, two participants on the call told <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-06-06/trump-orders-surrogates-to-intensify-criticism-of-judge-and-journalists" type="external">Bloomberg Politics</a>. Several Republican politicians, including former Massachusetts senator Scott Brown, were involved in the call, during which Trump overturned a Sunday email from his staff that ordered his most prominent supporters &#8211; those surrogates who speak for him on cable news talk shows and at campaign appearances &#8211; to cease all talk of the lawsuit and Curiel. &#8220;Take that order and throw it the hell out,&#8221; Trump said on the call, according to Bloomberg Politics.</p> Is Hillary Clinton Intimidated by Donald Trump? 
<p>Numerous other prominent Republicans have joined Ryan in disavowing Trump&#8217;s sentiments, including South Carolina&#8217;s junior senator Tim Scott &#8211; the Senate&#8217;s only black Republican &#8211; who <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/06/politics/republicans-donald-trump-judge-racism/" type="external">told CNN</a> the commentary is &#8220;racially toxic.&#8221;</p> 
<p>Added <a type="internal">Arnold Schwarzenegger</a> on Twitter, &#8220;Judge Curiel is an American hero who stood up to the Mexican cartels. I was proud to appoint him when I was Gov.&#8221;</p> 
<p>Freshly-minted presumptive <a type="internal">Democratic nominee</a> <a type="internal">Hillary Clinton</a> also issued a warning on Monday that Trump may next focus his attacks on &#8220;women judges &#8230; or maybe a judge with a disability, or perhaps one who was a former POW, or African-American.&#8221;</p> 
<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s trying to demean and defame a federal judge who was a very accomplished federal prosecutor,&#8221; she continued <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/clinton-trump-judge-smear-dangerous-nonsense-700286531849" type="external">on MSNBC</a>.</p> 
<p>&#8220;This is dangerous nonsense that undermines the rule of law, that makes him appear to be someone who has no respect for fellow Americans,&#8221; Clinton said. &#8220;And I think it is yet more evidence why this man is dangerous and divisive and disqualified from being president.&#8221;</p>
Textbook' Racism: Donald Trump's Attacks on Federal Judge Unite GOP from Ryan to Schwarzenegger; Clinton Warns Women Judges Could Be Next