|
 Donald Trump Jr., who is actively campaigning for his father,
gave an interview on Tuesday on "Liberty Roundtable," a
conservative Utah-based radio show hosted by Sam Bushman.
During the show he was questioned by James Edwards, another
radio host whose show "The Political Cesspool" is described by
the Southern Poverty Law Center, a leading U.S. civil rights
group, as "racist and anti-Semitic."
During the interview, Trump Jr. talked about what a good father
Donald Trump was and how his campaign is changing the Republican
Party.
“It’s not a campaign anymore, it’s a movement,” he told his
interviewers.
Edwards said on his blog on Tuesday he would rebroadcast the
20-minute interview on Saturday on "The Political Cesspool."
The show, founded in 2005 and syndicated by Bushman's Liberty
News Radio organization, has featured such extremists as former
Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and Holocaust denier Willis Carto.
Edwards also said on his blog he had attended a Memphis rally
for the billionaire candidate as a credentialed media member
last Saturday.
The Trump campaign, asked about an interview in the presence of
the Tennessee-based Edwards, denied any knowledge of it. The
campaign also said it did not know about Edwards' personal
views.
"The campaign provided media credentials to everyone that
requested access to the event on Saturday in Memphis. There were
close to 200 reporters in attendance and we do not personally
vet each individual. The campaign had no knowledge of his
personal views and strongly condemns them.
"Donald Trump Jr. was not in attendance (at the Memphis rally)
and although he served as a surrogate for his father on several
radio programs over the past week, to his knowledge and that of
the campaign, he did not participate in an interview with this
individual,“ campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in an email.
[to top of second column] |
Edwards, in an email, directed questions about the interview to
Bushman, but said in a statement:
"My show, The Political Cesspool, promotes a proud,
paleoconservative Christian worldview, and we reject media
descriptions of our work as “white supremacist,” “pro-slavery” and
other such scare words.
"As I clearly wrote in yesterday’s article, in no way should anyone
interpret our press credentialing and subsequent interview with
Donald Trump, Jr. as any kind of endorsement by the Trump campaign."
Donald Trump won a majority of the states holding nominating
contests on Super Tuesday, accelerating his march to the Republican
nomination.
He has promised to build a wall on the Mexican border, temporarily
ban Muslims from entering the United States and block Syrian
refugees because they might be militants, all policies popular with
some U.S. right-wing groups.
Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday condemned white
supremacist groups after Trump earlier failed to disavow support for
former Klan leader Duke, but the leaders declined further comment on
Trump's White House bid.
House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said any Republican
nominee must reject any group "built on bigotry" while Senate leader
Mitch McConnell said Senate Republicans condemned groups such as the
Klan and "everything they stand for."
(Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
