Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Watch: Elizabeth Warren calls Donald Trump “a thin-skinned, racist bully”

Elizabeth Warren was very clear about what she thinks of Donald Trump in a speech on Thursday: He’s “a thin-skinned, racist bully.”

Warren was specifically referring to Trump’s attacks against Gonzalo Curiel, the federal judge who’s overseeing the lawsuit against Trump University. Trump had previously said that Curiel shouldn’t be allowed on the case, because he’s “of Mexican heritage,” which Trump said is a “conflict of interest” because Trump wants to build a big, beautiful wall at the US-Mexico border.

Warren did not mince words:

He has personally — personally! — directed his army of campaign surrogates to step up their own public attacks on Judge Curiel. He’s even condemned federal judges who are Muslim on the disgusting theory that Trump’s own bigotry compromises the judge’s neutrality. You just can’t make this stuff up.

Now, like all federal judges, Judge Curiel is bound by the federal code of judicial ethics not to respond to these attacks. Trump is picking on someone who is ethically bound not to defend himself — exactly what you would expect from a thin-skinned, racist bully.

As far as the racism charge goes, Warren may find some support across the aisle. Earlier this week, House Speaker Paul Ryan said that he doesn’t think that Trump is a racist, but he acknowledged that saying that someone should be barred from a job because of their race is the “textbook definition of a racist comment.”

More in Politics

Podcasts
The Supreme Court abortion pills case, explainedThe Supreme Court abortion pills case, explained
Podcast
Podcasts

How Louisiana brought mifepristone back to SCOTUS.

By Peter Balonon-Rosen and Sean Rameswaram
Politics
Trump’s China policy is nearly the exact opposite of what everyone expectedTrump’s China policy is nearly the exact opposite of what everyone expected
Politics

As Trump heads to China, attention and resources are being shifted from Asia to yet another war in the Middle East.

By Joshua Keating
Politics
Are far-right politics just the new normal?Are far-right politics just the new normal?
Politics

Liberals are preparing for a longer war with right-wing populists than they once expected.

By Zack Beauchamp
The Logoff
Flavored vapes doomed Trump’s FDA headFlavored vapes doomed Trump’s FDA head
The Logoff

Why Marty Makary is out at the FDA, briefly explained.

By Cameron Peters
Politics
Virginia Democrats’ irresponsible new plan to save their gerrymanderVirginia Democrats’ irresponsible new plan to save their gerrymander
Politics

Democrats just handed the Supreme Court’s Republicans a loaded weapon.

By Ian Millhiser
The Logoff
Can Trump lower gas prices?Can Trump lower gas prices?
The Logoff

What suspending the gas tax would mean for you, briefly explained.

By Cameron Peters