South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham emerged Tuesday as a leader of a chorus of Republicans criticizing their party's presumptive nominee for president Donald Trump for his attacks on a Mexican-American U.S. federal judge. Graham is an alumnus of the University of South Carolina School of Law and was a military lawyer in the U.S. Air Force before being elected to congress.
"He's playing the race card," Graham said of Trump in an interview with NBC News. "If he continues this line of attack, then I think people need to really reconsider for the future of the party and the future of the country whether they should support him," Graham said to CNN.
Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina was more measured in his criticism of Trump on Wednesday when he spoke to Politico. “He’s got a long way to go to clean that up,” Scott said. “The American people need to hear more from him.” Trump's comments “were toxic and they were inappropriate and they were offensive and they were wrong," Scott said. "His walking it back was to some extent a sign of leadership, but we’ve got a long way to go."
The latest criticism of Trump stems from the businessman's comments about U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing a case involving the real estate seminar program called Trump University. Curiel was born in the U.S. to Mexican parents. On Sunday, Trump suggested to CNN that Curiel's Mexican-American heritage was prejudicing him against the candidate, who has been harshly critical of Mexico over the course of the campaign.
"I have had horrible rulings, I've been treated very unfairly by this judge," Trump said. "This judge is of Mexican heritage — I'm building a wall ... He's a member of a society, where you know, very pro-Mexico, and that's fine, that's all fine. But I think he should recuse himself."
Graham responded to Trump Sunday in The New York Times.
"This is the most un-American thing from a politician since Joe McCarthy,” he said, also criticizing Trump for suggesting a hypothetical Muslim judge couldn't be impartial in a case involving the businessman. Graham called on his fellow Republicans to closely examine their support of their party's nominee.
“If anybody was looking for an off-ramp, this is probably it,” Graham said. “There’ll come a time when the love of country will trump hatred of Hillary.”
Another prominent Republican appeared to follow Graham's lead on Tuesday. Illinois senator Mark Kirk told NBC News he would no longer be endorsing Trump for president.
"I cannot support him because of what he said about the judge. That was too racist and bigoted for me," Kirk said. When asked whether he hoped other Republicans would retract their endorsements of Trump, Kirk said, "I do. I think we should send a strong message to Donald."
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, the top Republican elected official in the country, stopped short of pulling his endorsement for Trump's candidacy on Tuesday, but he did deliver a strong message. Ryan spoke to reporters and disavowed Trump's comments on the judge.
"Claiming a person can't do their job because of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment," Ryan said. "It's absolutely unacceptable."
Graham agrees with Ryan's assessment. He expressed that he was taken aback by Trump's behavior.
"I've been a lawyer all my life and I've never heard anything like this before," Graham said to NBC News. "To suggest that a judge can't fairly decide a case because of where his parents were born is a new low in a campaign with plenty of lows ... I think his comments were racist."
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie came to Trump's defense Tuesday and criticized Graham. "Lindsey's lost any credibility he's had and he should worry about going back to South Carolina and trying to rebuild his base ... or he won't be in the United States Senate for much longer,” Christie said.
While not apologizing for his remarks, Trump walked them back in a statement posted to his campaign website Tuesday.
"I do not feel that one’s heritage makes them incapable of being impartial," he said.
In a scripted speech Tuesday night, Trump did not mention the controversy, but he offered an explanation for his combative style of rhetoric.
"I know some people say I'm too much of a fighter," he said. "My preference is always peace, however ... I've built an extraordinary business on relationships and deals that benefit all parties involved, always. My goal is always, again, to bring people together. But if I'm forced to fight for something I really care about, I will never, ever back down."