Trump Orders Surrogates to Intensify Criticism of Judge and Journalists

An embattled Donald Trump urgently rallied his most visible supporters to defend his attacks on a federal judge's Mexican ancestry during a conference call in which he ordered them to question the judge's credibility and impugn reporters as racists. A clearly irritated Trump told his supporters to attack journalists who ask questions about the lawsuit and his comments about the judge. “The people asking the questions—those are the racists,” Trump said. “I would go at ’em.” Suggesting a broader campaign against the media, Trump said the campaign should also actively criticize television reporters. “I'd let them have it,” he said, referring to those who Trump portrayed as hypocrites.