--- description: The former California governor appointed Judge Gonzalo Curiel to the bench in 2007, and called him an "American Hero" title: Arnold Schwarzenegger Calls Judge in Trump U Case an 'American Hero' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a442574d0bd626f/698896b8bc6cfc47ea3dd4a6/arnold-schwarzenegger.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Arnold Schwarzenegger Calls Judge in Trump University Case an 'American Hero' by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 7, 2016 1:05 AM CUT  Arnold Schwarzenegger attends the NBCUniversal 2016 Upfront Presentation on May 16, 2016 in New York, New York. Arnold Schwarzenegger attends the NBCUniversal 2016 Upfront Presentation on May 16, 2016 in New York, New York.Slaven Vlasic—Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 7, 2016 1:05 AM CUT Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has spoken out in defense of the federal judge presiding over a case involving Donald Trump’s defunct educational company. Trump said [Judge Gonzalo Curiel](http://time.com/4351376/donald-trump-university-lawsuit-gonzalo-curiel/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") should recuse himself from the case because he is of Mexican heritage, and because Trump has made vitriolic statements about Mexicans and promised to build a wall on the Mexican border, he believes Curiel could not be impartial in his judgment. Curiel has declined to comment on the case, but leaders across the political spectrum have spoken out in favor of the judge. Schwarzenegger appointed Curiel to the bench himself in 2007, and the judge was later appointed to the federal bench by President Obama. Schwarzenegger spoke out on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger/status/739965267501977600 "undefined") on Monday, calling Curiel an “American hero”: > [](https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger/status/739965267501977600) Other [Republicans](http://time.com/4358239/donald-trump-republicans-judge/?xid=homepage "undefined") who have sided against Trump in the matter include Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Schwarzenegger will appear as the host of [_Celebrity Apprentice_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/14/arnold-schwarzenegger-replace-donald-trump-celebrity-apprentice-host "undefined"), a role created by Trump, later this year. He told the [L.A. ](http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-trailguide-schwarzenegger-kasich-1465238922-htmlstory.html "undefined")[_Times_](http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-trailguide-schwarzenegger-kasich-1465238922-htmlstory.html "undefined") that he had voted for Kasich in the California primary in a mail-in ballot. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4359303/arnold-schwarzenegger-donald-trump-judge-gonzalo-curiel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4359303/arnold-schwarzenegger-donald-trump-judge-gonzalo-curiel/"},"headline":"Arnold Schwarzenegger Calls Judge in Trump University Case an 'American Hero'","datePublished":"2016-06-07T01:05:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:25:45.188Z","description":"The former California governor appointed Judge Gonzalo Curiel to the bench in 2007","url":"https://time.com/4359303/arnold-schwarzenegger-donald-trump-judge-gonzalo-curiel/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","celebrities","Courts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a442574d0bd626f/698896b8bc6cfc47ea3dd4a6/arnold-schwarzenegger.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a442574d0bd626f/698896b8bc6cfc47ea3dd4a6/arnold-schwarzenegger.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NBCUniversal 2016 Upfront Presentation","caption":"NBCUniversal 2016 Upfront Presentation","creditText":"Slaven Vlasic—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4359303/arnold-schwarzenegger-donald-trump-judge-gonzalo-curiel/","name":"Arnold Schwarzenegger Calls Judge in Trump University Case an 'American Hero'"}}]}] ```