Nikki Haley knocks Trump over KKK
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a surrogate for Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign, went after Donald Trump on Monday after the GOP front-runner waved off questions about the Ku Klux Klan.
Haley referenced the debate last summer over removing the Confederate symbol from the South Carolina statehouse following a mass shooting at an historic African-American church in Charleston by a white gunman pictured in photos holding a Confederate flag.
{mosads}”The KKK came to South Carolina from out of state to protest on our statehouse grounds. We saw and looked at true hate in the eyes last year in Charleston,” Haley said, speaking alongside Rubio at a rally in Atlanta.
“I will not stop until we fight a man that chooses not to disavow the KKK,” Haley continued. “That is not a part of our party, that is not who we want as president. We we allow not allow that in our country.”
Trump has faced much condemnation from Republican rivals and party figures, including Mitt Romney, stemming from a CNN interview Sunday where Trump claimed ignorance about former KKK grand wizard David Duke, who last week encouraged his radio listeners to vote for Trump.
“I know nothing about David Duke, I know nothing about white supremacists,” Trump told CNN.
Trump had brushed off a question about the backing of Duke during a press conference Friday — “I disavow, OK?” — and on Monday blamed a faulty earpiece amid uproar over his comments to CNN.
Rubio and Ted Cruz are battling Trump on the eve of Super Tuesday, when a dozen states including several in the South hold voting in the GOP contest where Trump is a favorite for the nomination.
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