Local

Rubio on Trump: ‘It's wrong, and I hope he stops'

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has responded to comments Donald Trump has made about an American judge’s ethnicity.

Trump said U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel can’t be impartial in suits, because his parents were born in Mexico, and Trump wants to build a wall along the border.

Curiel was born in Indiana, and his parents came from Mexico in the 1920s.

During a one-on-one interview with Rubio on Monday, he told Channel 9’s Christopher Heath what Trump said about the judge is wrong, and he needs to stop.

“That man (Curiel) is an American, born in the U.S., a judge who has earned that position. I don’t think it reflects well in the Republican Party. I don’t think it reflects wells on us as a nation,” Rubio said.

Trump has said his comments about the judge came after questions from reporters and others about lawsuits against Trump University. Curiel is the judge overseeing the lawsuits.

Curiel has not publicly responded.

“I ran for president and I warned this was going to happen,” Rubio said in regards to Trump’s remarks.

Contact Christopher Heath for more on this story.