Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump says a “lousy earpiece” provided by CNN led to Trump’s widely disparaged comments failing to repudiate former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
In an interview Monday on NBC’s Today, Trump told Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie he has no problem disavowing Duke’s endorsement–and had done so. Trump insisted he is well aware of the KKK, but merely had difficulty hearing the questions being asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper, who he believed had asked about “various groups.”
“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,” Trump said. “What I heard was ‘various groups.’ And I don’t mind disavowing anybody and I disavowed David Duke.”
For his part, Tapper points people directly to his interview:
Lots of folks talking today about what was asked, what could be heard, etc etc. — watch for yourself https://t.co/1pZd1evut9
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 29, 2016