Hours after Hillary invoked the late boxing legend's name to bash Trump's complaints about judge with Mexican heritage, Trump doubled down.
Hillary Clinton invoked Muslim convert Muhammad Ali's name on Saturday to bash rival Donald Trump's suggestions that a judge with Mexican roots is unfit to preside over his case.
"Judge Curiel is as much of an American as I am and he is as much of an American as Donald Trump is," the Democratic frontrunner told a crowd in Oxnard, California, "But he has Mexican roots, so to Donald Trump that means he can’t do his job."
"On a day that we are mourning Muhammad Ali, it's worth remembering that we live in a country where people can break down barriers, where they can worship their own god, where they can choose their own name, and where they can lead and follow their dreams as far as their hard work and talent will take them."
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Hours later, Trump doubled down on his suggestions that people of particular racial or religious backgrounds may not be fit to fairly judge his cases.
In a Sunday morning appearance on Face the Nation, Tump was asked if his belief that a judge of Mexican descent is automatically biased would also hold true for a Muslim judge.
"It's possible, yes. Yeah. That would be possible, absolutely,' he told host John Dickerson.
Dickerson then asked: "Isn't there sort of a tradition though in America that we don't judge people by who their parents were and where they came from?"
"I'm not talking about tradition," Trump replied. "I'm talking about common sense, okay?"
Read: Bill Clinton Among Notables Tapped to Eulogize Muhammad Ali at Public Funeral
Both Clinton and Trump--along with Clinton's dogged Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders--are blitzing through California ahead of the state's Tuesday primary.
Prior to invoking Ali's name at the Oxnard rally, Clinton tweeted:
"Muhammad Ali really was The Greatest -- unmatched not just in power and skill, but also in courage and conscience. Think of his family."
Ali died Friday night at the age of 74. His public funeral is scheduled for Friday in Louisville, Kentucky and among those tapped to eulogize the fighter is former President Bill Clinton.
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