Elsewhere from the presidential campaign trail, Ohio Republican senator Rob Portman is being blasted by his Democratic opponent Ted Strickland for both endorsing Donald Trump and disavowing Trump's characterization of the Indiana-born judge in the Trump University case as a biased "Mexican":
This is exactly the type of press release @TheRickWilson has been warning Republicans about for months pic.twitter.com/oZF4QDuE9n
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs)
June 4, 2016
This is awkward because Portman and the GOP-controlled Senate have managed to stave off pressure to consider a liberal Supreme Court nominee before the election because they ostensibly trust Trump's wisdom on judicial appointments. And so far, Trump's very public opinion about what makes for a credible judge is both ludicrous and spawning accusations of racism. The latest reports are that Trump is refusing to back off his attacks on Judge Gonzalo Curiel, the man overseeing the Trump U case, for fear of looking weak. Indeed, Trump called into Fox News Monday morning and lashed out at Newt Gingrich—who is far from a Trump antagonist—for saying he needs to lay off of the attacks on Curiel. Not good. Not good at all.
At the same time, CNN reports GOP poobahs are starting to fret that if Trump doesn't cool it, he's going to alienate Latino voters to the point that the GOP loses badly in down-ticket contests. "The concern is -- do we get to the point that all the money in the world doesn't matter?" one GOP donor tells CNN. "We're obviously not there right now, but stupid s--- like this really makes you wonder."
Trump supporters often point to keeping a conservative majority on the Supreme Court as the reason to vote for him. But given that Trump is slipping in the polls and actively destroying his credibility on judges, it's looking increasingly like the bigger concern may be that Trump drags the whole party down to such an extent that Hillary Clinton ends up with a Democratically controlled Senate to rubber stamp whatever Supreme Court nominee she wants.