Did Trump go too far, make unforced error in attacks on judge?

Trump go too far, make unforced error in attacks on judge?

Some Republicans have expressed outrage while Trump has doubled-down in his attacks on the Trump University case judge based on his ethnic heritage. Can 'The Donald' get past this? His campaign goes 'On the Record'

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," June 6, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Senior adviser to Donald Trump, Sarah Huckabee Sanders goes ON THE RECORD.

Good evening.

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, DONALD TRUMP'S SENIOR ADVISER: Good evening, Greta. Great to be with you tonight.

VAN SUSTEREN: Nice to have you here. All right

Do you agree with Donald Trump on what he said about the judge?

SANDERS: I agree that he should recuse himself. This is an openly liberal Democrat. There's no way he cannot be biased, not impartial. He strongly supports open borders.

I completely agree that this is a case that he needs to step away from, and he is too entrenched, I think, on the wrong side in this, and so he should step down.

So, yes, I absolutely agree. And I think Donald Trump is right to push him back.

VAN SUSTEREN: OK, two things.

First, he was insulting him and making a crack about the fact -- he said he was Mexican. In fact, he is an American born in Indiana.

Secondly, if you don't like a judge, the way that you would handle it, if you are objective of the judge, think that he is or she is unfair, you file a motion to recuse, you don't usually take to the airwaves and insult.

SANDERS: Well, I think we know that Donald Trump is not always conventional. And so, it's not out of the ordinary that maybe he goes a different route.

But, I think the bigger question is should this judge be on the case and should there even be a case at all?

And there are thousands and thousands of people that have attended Trump University that swear by it, say it was the best thing that ever happened to them. And so I think that, you know, the bigger question is whether or not there should even be a case.

Even more than that, I think the real thing that people should be focused on is there are two candidates in this race that may have a court issue, but only one of them may end up in jail and that's certainly not Donald Trump. It's Hillary Clinton who is under investigation by the FBI.

There should be a lot more people talking about that than the case that we are spending so much time talking about with Donald Trump.

VAN SUSTEREN: The Bloomberg has a report tonight with the headline, "Trump Orders Surrogates to Intensify Criticism of Judge and Journalists."

Were you on that conference call?

SANDERS: I was. Yes, ma'am. This morning I was part of that call. And the bigger purpose was for Trump to --

(CROSSTALK)

VAN SUSTEREN: I understand.

SANDERS: Go ahead.

VAN SUSTEREN: As I understand, originally, it started out he was going to thank his surrogates.

All right, can you give us sort of a tip? You know, how are you supposed to attack the judges, and what should the journalists be thinking about? What's the attack on the journalists?

SANDERS: The nature of the call was absolutely one of gratitude. He wanted to bring all of the surrogates together and have an open conversation and open dialogue, which we did for nearly an hour. He spent time thanking us, but also allowing all the different surrogates to ask questions on a number of issues.

VAN SUSTEREN: How about the other part. You know, to intensify --

(CROSSTALK)

SANDERS: You know, he called on us to talk about the issues of the day.

(CROSSTALK)

VAN SUSTEREN: How about did he specifically say intensify criticism of judge and journalist? Did he urge these surrogates to do that?

SANDERS: I don't know that the word "intensify criticism" was used, but he certainly encouraged us to fight back.

Donald Trump is anything but weak and he wants his team to be as strong as he is, and encouraged us to fight back when there are ridiculous charges out there, whether it's this or other things. He certainly encouraged us to push back. And I think you will see all of us do that.

VAN SUSTEREN: Any idea when he is going to have his V.P. named?

SANDERS: That's a question that I think he is the only one that can answer on that.

VAN SUSTEREN: So you don't have any inside scoop on that one?

SANDERS: You know, I think it could be as late as the convention. Again, Donald Trump isn't always the most conventional guy so he may wait until a big moment and unveil it there.

But I know he's certainly spent a lot of time thinking about it and not taking the decision lightly. And looking for the absolute best voice and the best person to help turn our country around, rebuild our economy, keep us safe, secure our borders and somebody that will focus on those issues and complement him in his efforts on that.

VAN SUSTEREN: Sarah, thank you very much for joining us.

SANDERS: Thank you, Greta.