Article by: Nora May

Edited by: Becca Stroschein

Donald Trump “disavows” his comments on the KKK

Last Sunday, Donald Trump was asked questions about David Duke (former leader of the Ku Klux Klan) at CNN’s State of the Union. Trump was given three opportunities to reject their support. At one point, the reporter told Trump straight out: “I’m just talking about David Duke and the KKK here-” Trump responded by saying, “Honestly, I don’t know David Duke. I don’t believe I’ve ever met him. I’m pretty sure I didn’t meet him. And I just don’t know anything about him.” However, he does know Duke- at least he did in 2000, when he mentioned him in an advertisement that explained why he was leaving the Reform Party. In this advertisement, Trump said, “The Reform Party now includes a Klansman, Mr. Duke,” to justify him leaving. During the interview with CNN however, Trump seemed to forget that. “I know nothing about David Duke; I know nothing about white supremacists,” was another way he replied to the reporter asking if Trump would condemn the notorious hate group. After Trump made these comments, other candidates quickly stepped in to attack Trump. Fellow presidential candidate Ted Cruz went to Twitter to express his thoughts by saying, “Really sad. @realDonaldTrump you’re better than this. We should all agree, racism is wrong, KKK is abhorrent.” Marco Rubio was also quoted as saying, “We cannot be the party that nominates someone who refuses to condemn white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan.”
After nearly a day of backlash, Trump responded, making it clear that he blamed CNN for “a bad earpiece.” He explained via Twitter that he “disavows his comments”- however, he didn’t apologize to the millions of people he’d hurt either. “He’s an ignoramus,” said Freshman Colleen Kelly. “He’s a closet racist.” This isn’t Trump’s first run in with unwanted support either, as a separate white supremacy group has created a robocall asking people to support the candidate because we need “…smart, well educated white people.” If Sunday’s situation is anything to go by, it certainly won’t be the last time he is targeted for his extreme views.