Donald Trump tried dramatically on Tuesday to push back against claims that his objection to a Hispanic federal judge overseeing a lawsuit against him hasn't treated him fairly.

'It is unfortunate that my comments have been misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage,' the billionaire said. 'I am friends with and employ thousands of people of Mexican and Hispanic descent.'

'The American justice system relies on fair and impartial judges. All judges should be held to that standard,' he said.

'I do not feel that one’s heritage makes them incapable of being impartial, but, based on the rulings that I have received in the Trump University civil case, I feel justified in questioning whether I am receiving a fair trial.'

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NO APOLOGIES: Donald Trump doubled down on his fight with Mexican-American judge Gonzalo Curiel on Tuesday, saying he was 'misconstrued' as a racist for saying the jurist's ethnicity drove him to issue unfair rulings in an anti-Trump fraud lawsuit that he supervises

DOUBLE-WHAMMY: As Trump found himself painted into a corner on Tuesday, Illinois Sen. mark Kirk issued a blistering statement distancing himself from the GOP's presumptive presidential nominee

'Due to what I believe are unfair and mistaken rulings in this case and the Judge’s reported associations with certain professional organizations,' Trump insisted, 'questions were raised regarding the Obama appointed Judge’s impartiality.'

'It is a fair question. I hope it is not the case.'

On June 2 Trump told The Wall Street Journal that the judge had an 'absolute conflict' in hearing his case because of his own views on topics that affected Hispanics.

'I'm building a wall. It's an inherent conflict of interest,' Trump said then.

Trump's Hail Mary pass on Tuesday came as Californians, New Jerseyans and other Americans were voting in Republican primaries, and just minutes after a U.S. senator became the most high-profile Republican to rescind his endorsement.

'It is absolutely essential that we are guided by a commander-in-chief with a responsible and proper temperament, discretion and judgment,' Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk said in a statement of his own.

Kirk is running for re-election in a blue state where claims of enabling a racist politician could be politically toxic.

'Our President must be fit to command the most powerful military the world has ever seen, including an arsenal of thousands of nuclear weapons. After much consideration, I have concluded that Donald Trump has not demonstrated the temperament necessary to assume the greatest office in the world.'

UNFAIR? Trump has said for the last ten days, beginning at a May 27 rally in San Diego, that the judge in his civil case has been unfairly targeting him

WHAT ENDORSEMENT? Kirk yanked his support for Trump just minutes before the billionaire tried to reposition himself in the national outrage over Judge Curiel and the 'Trump University' case

An interview with NBC-TV5 in Chicago asked Kirk in March if he would support Trump, should he emerge as the Republican Party's presidential standard bearer.

'If he was the nominee, I certainly would,' Kirk said then.

Trump's statement did not include an apology or an attempt to distance himself from his remarks, which began with a 12-minute diatribe against Judge Gonzalo Curiel during a May 27 speech in San Diego.

His comments then included claims that the Mexican-American Curie, a Barack Obama appointee, has issued a series of rulings against him because of the GOP candidate's positions on illegal immigration and border security.

The case concerns Trump University, a defunct series of real estate business seminars Trump owns. Thousands of former students are suing him in a class-action that Curiel green-lighted this year despite the lead plaintiff's request to abandon the case.