Stephen Colbert admonished Donald Trump on The Late Show Monday for failing the easiest test in politics: Not disavowing the support of former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke.
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Vanderbilt professor Dr. Carol Swain tells MSNBC the David Duke and KKK endorsements of Donald Trump, which the candidate eventually disavowed, will be a “non-issue” because people have had enough of political correctness and “no candidate can totally control who supports that candidate”. Trump had, however, disavowed Duke’s endorsement during a news conference Friday and he later tweeted a clip from that along with “I disavow”.
Tapper asked Trump whether he would disavow Duke and white supremacist groups that are supporting his presidential campaign.
The Republican front-runner told NBC’s Today Show that he could barely hear CNN’s Jake Tapper during a previous interview, leading to the confusion over wether he had denounced the group or not. “They were there, CNN was there, and they gave me a lousy earpiece”. He added that he disavowed Duke a day before. The corporate media is more interested in ratings than decency, so there is little doubt that they will continue endlessly give Trump airtime. The pledge was signed in 2015 by the Republican National Committee and Donald Trump in which Trump agreed not to run as an independent while the Party had agreed to maintain a playing field that remained level. “OK, all right – I disavow”, he said.
“Well, I have to look at the group”, he later added. If you would send me a list of the groups, I will do research on them. Freshman Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska said on his personal Twitter account Sunday that, “If Trump becomes the Republican nominee my expectation is that I’ll look for some 3rd candidate – a conservative option, a Constitutionalist”. “I mean, there’s nobody that’s done so much for equality as I have”. Black said said that Trump “has clearly been a benefit to us”, referring to the white supremacist community.
As multiple reports indicated over the weekend, Trump has previously made clear he was familiar with Duke’s stances, lumping him in with the “underside” and “fringe element” of the Reform Party in a New York Times op-ed in 2000. “By the way, not only is that wrong, it makes him unelectable”. And I just don’t know anything about him.
“This is the easiest question in American politics”, he said, pointing to onscreen graphics of Duke and a hooded Klan member.
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Barrett said Duke was not at all dissauded by Trump’s disavowal and subsequent indecision.
