GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump went on Twitter Sunday to post a video of himself saying he disavowed the support of former Klansman David Duke after he came under criticism from his opponents and other Republicans for waffling on the question during a television appearance earlier in the day.
During a Friday press conference Trump was asked about
the former Klan leader saying on his radio show that while he doesn't endorse Trump, any white person who doesn't vote for him is guilty of "treason to your heritage."
"David Duke endorsed me? OK, all right. I disavow, OK?" Trump said Friday.
But when
pressed on the issue Sunday morning on CNN's "State of the Union," Trump insisted he wasn't familiar with Duke – or at least sounded like it was the first time he'd heard of Duke backing him – and said didn't want to disparage innocent groups along with Duke if he condemned him and the Ku Klux Klan.
"Well, just so you understand: I don't know anything about David Duke, OK?" Trump said. "I don't know anything what you're even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. So, I don't know. I don't know.
"Did he endorse me, or what's going on? Because, you know, I know nothing about David Duke," Trump continued. "I know nothing about white supremacists. And so you're asking me a question that I'm supposed to be talking about people that I know nothing about."
Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn, appearing later of the same show, said Trump's response was not acceptable. And New York Rep. Pete King called it
"indefensible and disgraceful."
Some of Trump's GOP presidential rivals were quick to condemn him, including Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
Rubio blasted Trump in a Sunday morning rally in Virginia, saying "We cannot be the party that nominates someone who refuses to condemn white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan,"
CNN reported.
"By the way, not only is that wrong, it makes him unelectable," Rubio said. "How are we going to grow our party with a nominee that refuses to condemn the Ku Klux Klan? Don't tell me he doesn't know what the Ku Klux Klan is. This is serious."
Rubio quoted a
New York Times story from 2000 when Trump announced he would not be running for president as part of the Reform Party, partly because Duke was a member.
"The Reform Party now includes a Klansman, Mr. Duke, a neo-Nazi, Mr. [Pat] Buchanan, and a communist, Ms. [Lenora] Fulani. This is not company I wish to keep," Trump said at the time.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich also commented on Twitter, as did Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is running as a Democrat.
"Condemning David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan at every opportunity should be the easiest thing anyone can do," said
Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama. "The hatefulness of their ideas and actions are well-established and should be condemned forcefully by all responsible political leaders."
The
Anti-Defamation League, which already had called for Trump to disavow Duke, issued a new statement on Sunday, saying, "David Duke is a notorious anti-Semite and racist and his name is synonymous with bigotry. Duke is a perennial candidate for elected office and perhaps America’s best known racist and anti-Semite."
Sanders' rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, retweeted him.
But Trump's link to his statement on Friday did mollify some conservatives, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and conservative writer Ben Shapiro.
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