“Well, you’ve got David Duke just joined — a bigot, a racist, a problem. I mean, this is not exactly the people you want in your party.”Donald Trump on August 26th, 2015
Trump: “I don’t need his endorsement; I certainly wouldn’t want his endorsement. I don’t need anyone’s endorsement.”
Heilemann: “Would you repudiate David Duke?
Trump: “Sure, I would do that, if it made you feel better. I don’t know anything about him. Somebody told me yesterday, whoever he is, he did endorse me. Actually I don’t think it was an endorsement. He said I was absolutely the best of all of the candidates.”Donald Trump on February 26th, 2016
“I didn’t even know he endorsed me. David Duke endorsed me? Okay, all right. I disavow, okay?”Time on February 28th, 2016
Donald Trump Refuses to Condemn KKK, Disavow David Duke EndorsementThe Telegraph on March 1st 2016
"Trump's refusal to condemn David Duke and his racist movement shows he is happy to dance with the devil in pursuit of power"CBS news on February 28th, 2016
Donald Trump declines to condemn KKK leader
I don't want to sound like a Trump supporter here, but it seems like the media was being pretty disingenuous with its reporting here. Much of the reporting was in regard to one particular instance where Trump didn't disavow him when he had the opportunity. Trump explained later that:
“I’m sitting in a house in Florida, with a very bad earpiece that they gave me, and you could hardly hear what he was saying. But what I heard was ‘various groups.’ And I don’t mind disavowing anybody and I disavowed David Duke. And I disavowed him the day before at a major news conference…. I have no problem disavowing groups, but I’d at least like to know who they are.He disavowed just before the bad earpiece scandal, and he disavowed after it. Politically it would be an obvious tactical error to not distance yourself from anything having to do with the KKK. I'm sorry but the story here is not, "Trump refuses to disavow David Duke." The story is... well there is no story. Regardless, the media hopped on the bandwagon as fast as they could and blew the whole thing out of proportion.
And that's why fake news is a thing.
