CHUCK TODD (HOST): Andrea, let me start with this issue over all things having to do with Trump and this federal judge. First of all, he has been attacking this judge based on ethnicity since February. Take a look.
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DONALD TRUMP: I believe he happens to be Spanish, which is fine. He's Hispanic, which is fine.
TRUMP: I think he has been very, very unfair with us. I think the judge has been extremely unfair.
TRUMP: The judges in this court system, federal court, they ought to look into judge Curiel, because what judge Curiel is doing is a total disgrace.
TRUMP: He's a Mexican. We're building a wall between here and Mexico.
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TODD: Just to get this on the record, his attorneys have not filed a motion asking the judge to recuse himself. So the rhetoric doesn't match the actions.
ANDREA MITCHELL: You have to think that what he's trying to do, perhaps, if there's a strategy here, is to force the judge to take himself off, saying this has now become too political. The judge under the ethics rules is not allowed to argue back. He can't defend himself in the public arena. He can hold Donald Trump in contempt. He's got a lot of other weapons, but people in the judicial conference, people in the judiciary are horrified by this. Constitutional scholars are concerned. People who have not criticized Donald Trump are saying that this questions the separations of powers. And it is blatantly racist. There's no other way to describe going after this judge based on his ethnicity.
RON FOURNIER: Of course, this is not a legal strategy. It's a political strategy. He's moved beyond the dog whistle. This is a racist bullhorn to tell the rest of America that if you're not white and you're not a Christian, you can't judge me.
