Donald Trump’s 32-year-old son Eric Trump told a Colorado radio host on Thursday that former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke deserves “a bullet.”
The Republican presidential nominee’s son and surrogate was asked to comment on a Politico report this week about white nationalists plotting to monitor polling stations in black neighborhoods. Denver radio host Ross Kaminsky called the report a “hit piece” and slammed Politico for including a photograph of a smiling Mr. Duke, whom Mr. Kaminsky said “desperately needs a bullet to the head.”
“If I said exactly what you said, I’d get killed for it,” Eric Trump responded. “But I think I’ll say it anyway: the guy does deserve a bullet.”
“I mean, these aren’t good people. These are horrible people,” he said. “In fact, I commend my father. My father’s the first Republican who’s gone out and said, ’Listen, what’s happened to the African-American community is horrible and I’m going to take care of it.”
Donald Trump drew criticism earlier this year when he did not immediately disavow Mr. Duke’s endorsement, but he and his campaign have since emphatically renounced the support of white nationalists.
On Thursday, President Obama told a Hillary Clinton rally in North Carolina that Mr. Trump has the support of the KKK. Eric Trump said the attempts by Democrats to tie his father to hate groups are an attempt to distract voters.
“This is the MO of the DNC,” Mr. Trump said, “And in fact, we go back to the Podesta emails from May/June, there’s an email where he’s saying listen, ’We think Trump has an amazing movement going and we want to make him, the only way we think we can best stop is to make him look like a bigot, racist, xenophobic, this and that.’”
Asked to comment on Mr. Trump’s “bullet” remark, Mr. Duke told CNN, “That’s a good one.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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