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On the Sunday morning talk shows, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump refused to condemn endorsements from a prominent white supremacist and former KKK leader, and said he retweeted a Mussolini quote because "it's a very good quote."

The extended conversation about white supremacists

where Jake Tapper asked if Trump would distance himself from an endorsement by David Duke, former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Duke has 

 that voting against Trump would be "treason to your heritage."


Trump refused to condemn that endorsement or say he didn't want the support of white supremacists — four times.

"I don't know anything about David Duke. I don't know what you're even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacist. I don't know. I don't know, did he endorse me, or what's going on?" he said. That prompted a back-and-forth that went, in part:

Not long after, Trump tweeted out a video of him being asked about Duke's support on Friday, at a news conference where he received the support of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

In the video from Friday, Trump said, "I disavow."

As several people swiftly pointed out on Twitter, Trump hasn't always claimed ignorance of David Duke as he did on CNN this morning.

In 2000, when he ended his presidential campaign, Trump cited Duke's participation in the Reform Party as one reason he no longer wanted the party's nomination.


"The Reform Party now includes a Klansman, Mr. Duke, a neo-Nazi, Mr. [Pat][ Buchanan, and a communist, Ms. [Lenora] Fulani. This is not company I wish to keep," he 

.
On MSNBC, Chris Jansing spoke to Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., about his father's comments on 

He said he wasn't a campaign spokesman — but as a spokesman for his father, he was willing to say Trump's camp didn't want the support of a former KKK leader.

"I'm pretty sure we're not interested in those kinds of votes," Trump Jr. said.


Also on the Sunday show circuit, on NBC's 

Trump declined to distance himself from a Benito Mussolini quote he had retweeted.
Gawker 

 to announce that the account that first tweeted the quote — unsubtly named "@ilduce2016" — was a bot they designed with the express purpose of tricking Trump into retweeting a line from the fascist Italian dictator.


When Chuck Todd pointed out that "it is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep" is, indeed, a famous Mussolini quote, and asked if Trump knew that, Trump said:

"It's OK to know it was Mussolini. Look, Mussolini was Mussolini. ... It's a very good quote. It's a very interesting quote."

When Todd asked if Trump wanted to be associated with a fascist, Trump said, "No, I want to be associated with interesting quotes."

He then pointed out he has millions of followers on social media, and that they appreciate his interesting posts.

Politics and Government News

Election 2016

On CNN's State of the Union, the Republican front-runner was asked if he'd distance himself from the support of former KKK grand wizard David Duke. Trump refused four times, saying, "I don't know."

Trump won't condemn KKK, says he 'knows nothing about white supremacists'

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