Trump Defiant over Latino Judge Uproar, Rejects All Criticism

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday rejected a barrage of criticism from his own party over his allegations of bias against a Latino judge, insisting his concerns were valid, Reuters report.

"All I want to do is figure out why I'm being treated unfairly by a judge. And a lot of people agree with it," Trump told Fox News.

Trump has been on the defensive since his comments last week about Mexican-American U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing fraud lawsuits against Trump University, the New York businessman's defunct real estate school.

He told campaign supporters in a conference call they should stand by him in his attacks on the judge, Bloomberg Politics reported, after he suggested Curiel's heritage is influencing the judge's opinion about the case because of Trump's campaign rhetoric about illegal immigration.

The presumptive Republican nominee for the Nov. 8 presidential election has pledged to seal the U.S.-Mexico border with a wall, and has said Mexico is sending rapists and drug dealers to the United States.

Republican leaders including House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell have distanced themselves from Trump's comments surrounding the judge, saying they are worried the tone of his presidential campaign could enrage Latinos, who are a growing U.S. voting bloc.