Pat Buchanan: Stop ‘lynching’ Trump over judge

Pat Buchanan is defending presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump over his attacks against a Hispanic judge.

“Before the lynching of the Donald proceeds, what exactly was it he said about that Hispanic judge?” Buchanan, a conservative political commenter, wrote on his website.

{mosads}“Stated succinctly, Donald Trump said U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is presiding over a class-action lawsuit against Trump University, is sticking it to him,” Buchanan added. “And the judge’s bias is likely rooted in the fact that he is of Mexican descent.

“First, Trump has a perfect right to be angry about the judge’s rulings and to question his motives. Second, there are grounds for believing Trump is right,” he continued.

Buchanan said Curiel’s ethnicity is a perfectly acceptable reason for questioning if the judge is impartial.

“All of us are products of our family, faith, race and ethnic group,” he said. “And the suggestion in these attacks on Trump that judges and justices always rise above such irrelevant considerations, and decide solely on the merits, is naïve nonsense.

“There are reasons why defense lawyers seek ‘changes of venue’ and avoid the courtrooms of ‘hanging judges,’ ” added Buchanan, a two-time GOP presidential candidate.

“The judiciary is independent, but that does not mean that federal judges are exempt from the same robust criticism as presidents or members of Congress.”

Trump has faced strong criticism from fellow Republicans for criticizing Judge Curiel.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Tuesday said Trump’s remarks were “textbook” racism, but he was still endorsing the presumptive GOP nominee.

Trump repeatedly has said that Curiel’s “Mexican” heritage made him biased. Curiel was born in Indiana to Mexican immigrants.

Trump has blasted illegal immigration from Mexico and vowed to build a wall along the U.S.’s border with the country.

Trump on Tuesday said his comments about Curiel’s ancestry had been “misconstrued” by the media.

Buchanan said the Republican backlash against Trump reflects left-wing views about race.

“To many liberals, all white Southern males are citizens under eternal suspicion of being racists. The most depressing thing about this episode is to see Republicans rushing to stomp on Trump, to show the left how well they have mastered their liberal catechism,” he said.