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Donald Trump says he was surprised that Newt Gingrich hammered him for noting the Mexican ancestry of the American judge overseeing lawsuits against Trump University.

Trump tells Fox News Channel on Monday that the former House speaker's criticism was "inappropriate." Trump says he's only defending himself against relentless questions about Trump University by questioning the impartiality of U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel. Trump says most customers were satisfied with the school.

Gingrich is one of several prominent Republicans urging Trump to lay off Curiel and unify the GOP.

"We're all behind him now," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned, adding that it's time for unifying the party, not "settling scores and grudges." "I hope he'll change his direction."

So far,聽Trump聽has refused, reiterating in interviews broadcast Sunday that Curiel's Mexican heritage means he cannot ensure a fair trial involving a billionaire who wants to build a border wall to keep people from illegally entering the United States from Mexico. Curiel was born in Indiana to Mexican-born parents 鈥� making him, in聽Trump's聽view, "a hater of Donald聽Trump."

"I couldn't disagree more" with聽Trump's聽central argument, McConnell said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"I don't condone the comments," added Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on ABC's "This Week."

And Newt Gingrich, who became speaker of the House promising to open the GOP more to minorities, delivered the harshest warning of all.

"This is one of the worst mistakes聽Trump聽has made. I think it's inexcusable," Gingrich, a former presidential contender, said on "Fox News Sunday."

Their remarks solidify the line GOP leaders have drawn in recent days between themselves and Trump, with whom they've made a fragile peace over their shared sense that almost anyone would be a better president than Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The GOP pushback against聽Trump聽comes two days before presidential primaries in California, home to more Latinos than whites. It's the final major battleground between Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Far ahead of Sanders in the delegate race, Clinton is poised to clinch her party's nomination in the next few days.

Trump聽has no more competition for the GOP nomination, but he does have significant issues with the most senior elected members of the party he hopes to lead.

On Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan tepidly endorsed聽Trump聽鈥� but 24 hours later disavowed the billionaire's remarks about Curiel.

Trump聽University is the target of two lawsuits in San Diego and one in New York that accuse the business of fleecing students with unfulfilled promises to teach secrets of success in real estate.聽Trumphas maintained that customers were overwhelmingly satisfied.聽Trump's聽legal team has not sought to have Curiel removed.

Trump聽already has rejected calls for him adjust his approach.

"I'm not changing," he said Tuesday at a fiery news conference at聽Trump聽Tower.

On Sunday,聽Trump聽doubled down on the idea. Asked on CBS whether a Muslim聽judge聽would be unfair given聽Trump's聽plan to ban Muslims from the U.S,聽Trump聽responded: "Yeah. That would be possible, absolutely."

For a party that in 2012 explicitly pinned its survival on drawing support from Hispanics,聽Trump'swords create an ugly series of headaches.

Asked three times whether聽Trump's聽attack on Curiel was racist, McConnell thrice refused to respond directly and repeated a statement about disagreeing.

"I think it's a big mistake for our party to write off Latino Americans," said McConnell, R-Ky.

Gingrich answered: "I think that it was a mistake ... I hope it was sloppiness. "(Trump) says on other occasions that he has many Mexican friends, et cetera, but that's irrelevant. This聽judge聽is not Mexican. This聽judge聽is an American citizen."

Corker, R-Tenn., expressed the same discomfort many other Republicans in Congress have complained about when they're asked to respond to, or justify,聽Trump's聽remarks. "I thought this interview was going to be more about the foreign policy arena," Corker said on ABC.

Like Ryan, all three Republicans have endorsed聽Trump. But their comments carried the implicit caveat that their support depends at least in part on聽Trump聽dropping his criticism of Curiel. All three also suggested ways聽Trump聽could move beyond his legal issues.

Corker, who recently met with聽Trump聽in New York, said聽Trump聽"has a tremendous opportunity" to build out his foreign policy agenda.

Gingrich urged聽Trump聽to become more of a statesman.

"Trump聽has got to, I think, move to a new level," he said. "This is no longer the primaries. He's no longer an interesting contender. He is now the potential leader of the United States and he's got to move his game up to the level of being a potential leader."

McConnell's advice was blunt.

"This is a good time, it seems to me, to begin to try to unify the party and you unify the party by not settling scores and grudges against people you've been competing with," he said. "I'd like to see him reach out and pull us all together and give us a real shot at winning this November."

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Associated Press writers Eileen Sullivan and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.