This piece first appeared in Asia Times.
Donald Trump’s presidential
campaign has relied on a string of controversial declarations designed to
insult certain segments of the American society and reap the free publicity
resulting from the media coverage. When the offended party responds with a vigorous
protest, Trump then backs down and modifies his positions to mollify the
outrage.
His latest stunt is so over
the top that this time he may not have a way to back down. He declared that the
judge, Gonzalo Curiel, presiding over litigations over the Trump University could
not be impartial because his parents are originally from Mexico, even though
Judge Curiel was born in Indiana and is obviously an American in order to serve
on the federal district court.
Leading Republican figures,
many of whom have only recently and grudgingly rallied around Trump as the
presumptive GOP candidate for president, are aghast and scrambling to find ways
of disassociating from Trump’s racism and keeping from being splattered by the
mud.
Apparently, Trump expects
Judge Curiel to accede to his request to dismiss lawsuits against him and the
Trump University on summary judgment. A summary judgment is rendered when it’s
obvious to the presiding judge that the plaintiff has no case. Since Judge
Curiel does not agree with Trump’s point of view, he is therefore biased. As
Trump has publicly asserted, the judge is biased because he is Hispanic.
Of the total federal cases, less
than 15% were thrown out on summary judgment arising from the flimsiness of the
cases. The lawsuits filed against Trump and Trump University were on behalf of
former students accusing the operation of fraud, false advertising and unfair
business practices. There is no prima facie indication that the suits are
frivolous.
So why is Trump accusing the
presiding federal district judge that he is biased? A connoisseur of litigation,
Trump has personally been involved in thousands of lawsuits, both as plaintiff
and as defendant. He wallows in legal disputes.
A well-known practice, when
you are a billionaire and the legal case is going against you, is to get the
judge to recuse him or herself on the grounds of potential conflict.
What if there are no grounds for
claiming conflict of interest? You create some. Through circular reasoning, you
first accuse the judge of not being fair, and then you appear in court to ask
the judge to vacate his/her seat because the judge has been accused of not
being fair.
If you are rich, you can afford
to keep finding excuses and reasons to keep the court from hearing the case.
Trump claims to be rich but he can’t afford to lose the suits involving the now
defunct Trump University. The potential damage to his pocket book and to his
reputation would be enormous.
Trump likes to declare that
he is running for president on “America First.” Actually he is running on
Donald Trump first. Donald Trump is all about Donald Trump.
He puts his personal
interest, which is trying to get the suits against him dismissed, ahead of
what’s good for the Republican Party and for the country.
Some pundits say Trump’s run
for the presidency will be a disaster to befall the Republican Party; the
setback could be worse than even when Barry Goldwater ran against Lyndon Johnson
in 1964.
It’s too early to make a
prognosis on exactly how badly the 2016 election will turn out, but we do know
one important distinction between Trump and Goldwater.
Goldwater enunciated his
ideas of conservatism and ran on his principles. Unlike Trump, he was
gentlemanly and did not indulge in hate mongering.
Goldwater’s political messages
did persuade the African American community that there was no room in the GOP
tent for them. Ever since then, the black vote has been lopsidedly cast in
favor of Democratic political candidates.
On the other hand, Trump’s
equal opportunity slamming of ethnic, religious and sexual orientation groups has
offended nearly everyone except for perhaps a small cohort of white male
voters.
The consequences of Trump’s
run for president could become a fearful burden that the Republican Party will
have to bear for generations to come.
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