“I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with the white supremacy or white supremacists”, Trump said. Trump at first pleaded ignorance about Duke and groups he’s been involved in, then later said he disavowed Duke’s support.
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He defended his father against some attacks, including those from rivals who slammed the elder Trump for not being quick enough to denounce his endorsement from Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. In a Sunday interview, Trump blamed a defective earpiece for an unclear response about white supremacist groups. “You wouldn’t want me to condemn a group that I know nothing about”.
The Republican presidential candidate told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he would need to do more research on the KKK or its former grand dragon, who said he’s backing Trump in the election.
For his part, Trump said that he did not disavow Duke’s endorsement during a Sunday CNN interview because he was provided with a “bad earpiece” that made it hard to hear.
“David Duke was disavowed”, Trump told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “Good Morning America.” .
On Friday, he disavowed Duke’s support at a news conference announcing the endorsement of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who had dropped out of the Republican primary race about a week earlier.
The billionaire businessman also said Monday on Today he disavowed Duke on social media over the weekend. “How many times do I have to continue to disavow people?” he said. So, yeah… not a group you want to be associated with, especially if you’re running for President of the United States. “It’d be very unfair disavowing a group if they shouldn’t be disavowed”.
Duke on his radio program February 24 had urged his listeners to vote and volunteer for Trump.
Tapper fired back, expressing disbelief that Trump would be unfamiliar with such a public figure or the hate group he once represented. Pelosi said that while some in the GOP are distancing themselves from Trump, Republicans refused to remove the Confederate flag from the Capitol grounds and have blocked renewal of the Voting Rights Act. “How are we going to grow our party with a nominee that refuses to condemn the Ku Klux Klan?”.
Duke was asked what he would say to Trump.
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures while speaking during a rally at Radford University in Radford, Va., Monday, Feb. 29, 2016. I hear various groups.
