Trump blames ‘lousy earpiece’ for uproar over David Duke

Donald Trump on Monday blamed a poor earpiece for sparking a misunderstanding over white nationalist David Duke’s support of the GOP presidential front-runner.

“I’m sitting in a house in Florida with a very bad earpiece they gave me,” he told hosts Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie on NBC’s “Today” show.

{mosads}“I sit down and I have a lousy earpiece provided by them,” Trump continued. “You could hardly hear what [CNN anchor Jake Tapper] was saying.

“What I heard was ‘various groups.’ I have no problem disavowing groups, but I’d at least like to know who they are. It’d be very unfair disavowing a group if they shouldn’t be disavowed.”

Trump waved off questions about Duke during a Sunday morning appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.” He repeatedly told Tapper he is unaware of the former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard’s background and stances. 

The outspoken billionaire on Monday lashed out at CNN for ignoring his multiple rejections of Duke’s support over the weekend.

“I’ve disavowed David Duke all weekend long on Facebook and Twitter, but it’s obviously never enough,” Trump said. “I disavowed David Duke the day before in a major news conference. 

“CNN was at the major news conference, and they heard me very easily disavow David Duke. I’m saying to myself, ‘How many times do I have to continue to disavow people?’”

Trump has frequently distanced himself from Duke’s support after first facing questions from journalists last Friday.  

Duke told listeners on his radio show last week that they should vote for Trump, adding that backing Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) instead is “really treason to your heritage.”