After the defense rested in Donald Trump’s hush-money trial on Tuesday, Trump took to the cameras to denigrate the judge presiding over his case, issuing a blatantly racist dog whistle as a desperate last line of defense before closing remarks next Tuesday.
“The judge hates Donald Trump,” Trump said, creepily referring to himself in the third person. “Just take a look. Take a look at him. Take a look at where he comes from.”
Trump was obviously noting that Judge Juan Merchan was born in Colombia, a claim that bears little weight outside the minds of racists hunting for a reason to oppose Merchan’s pretty lax efforts to deter Trump from using his platform to launch harassment and threats at jurors, key witnesses, and family members of those involved in the trial.
Merchan immigrated to the United States from Colombia when he was 6 years old and grew up in the same borough as the bloviating former president—albeit on opposite sides of the wealth spectrum. Trump was raised in the affluent suburban neighborhood of Jamaica Estates, while Merchan grew up in Jackson Heights, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in New York City. Merchan—who is roughly sixteen years Trump’s junior—immigrated to Queens when Trump was about 22 years old.
The comments echoed past attacks on another judge—Gonzalo Curiel—who in 2016 Trump claimed couldn’t be impartial in overseeing a federal fraud case against Trump University (remember that?) because the Indiana-born judge was “of Mexican heritage.” Trump’s 2016 comments were clearly understood to be racist, with conservatives widely criticizing them at the time. Former Ohio Governor John Kasich, who in 2016 ran against Trump, denounced the attack, writing on X (formerly Twitter), “Attacking judges based on their race &/or religion is another tactic that divides our country. [Donald Trump] should apologize to Judge Curiel & try to unite this country.”
“I couldn’t disagree more with what he had to say,” Mitch McConnell said at the time of Trump’s attacks against Curiel. “I don’t agree with what he had to say. This is a man who was born in Indiana. All of us came here from somewhere else.”
Eight years of racist bloviating and winks to white supremacists later, Republicans are silent on Trump’s dog whistles against another “certified Trump hater” judge, focusing instead on dressing like Trump to help him violate his gag order.
