Bill O'Reilly of the Fox News Channel program "The O'Reilly Factor," poses for photos in New York. | AP Photo O'Reilly: Trump judge should recuse himself

Judge Gonzalo Curiel should recuse himself from the Trump University lawsuits over which he is presiding because of the remarks made by Donald Trump, Bill O'Reilly said at the outset of "The O'Reilly Factor" Monday night on Fox News.

"Not because he did anything wrong. He didn't," O'Reilly said, moments before welcoming the presumptive Republican nominee to his show. "But to eliminate any doubt as to the motivation in court rulings. There are plenty of federal judges that could immediately step in. It is valid that some may see any recusal as caving to intimidation. But stark justice in a case this important, trumps — pardon the pun — any theoretical argument."


Before making that point, O'Reilly remarked that the Trump University cases would "not likely have much effect on the election, voters having more important things to consider than the disenchantment of a few Trump U clients. But, the situation has put Donald Trump on the defensive."

There is "[n]o question there is a political component to the legal action as the law firm behind the class action lawsuits often helps the Democratic Party," O'Reilly continued, noting that LawNewz.com reported that the firm has paid the Clintons a combined $675,000 since 2009. "That makes the legal action look like a political hit job. As it is likely the law firm is working on contingency," he said. "So Mr. Trump is correct to be indignant and defend himself vigorously. But part of that defense included a negative personal assessment of the judge in the case, a Mexican-American named Gonzalo Curiel."

Even so, O'Reilly offered praise for Curiel, whom he characterized as "no raging liberal" and a "tough guy" who faced down death threats from a Mexican drug cartel.

"However, the judge belongs to a group called San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association which does advocacy work on behalf of Latinos. Not associated with the radical La Raza group, but confusion is understandable," O'Reilly said. "Because of that, Mr. Trump apparently believes the judge may be biased against him as it is well-known the candidate has taken a strong stand against illegal immigration, include building a border wall. Summing up, the Trump U case is certainly political to some extent and it's a very high-profile situation because of that."

After O'Reilly remarked that Curiel should recuse himself, Trump joined the show. Minutes into his interview, O'Reilly asked Trump about his issues with women, including a Boston Globe story that he pays men in his campaign a third more than women.

"The answer is no, and I just had it checked, because I heard this was gonna be a question," Trump responded. "I have a good source, and somebody said this could be a question."

The network denied that it had given any sort of heads up to Trump about the questions he would be asked.

"We never, ever tell the guests what questions will be asked," David Tabacoff, the show's senior executive producer, told POLITICO in a statement. "Bill O'Reilly is the only person who knows what exactly he'll ask. We treated this interview like we treat all other guests on the program."