Donald Trump was asked what should have been one of the simplest questions of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Would he reject the support of David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan?
Instead of immediately answering yes, Trump hesitated.
What followed on February 28, 2016 became one of the most controversial interviews of his campaign.
David Duke Enters the Campaign
David Duke was one of America's best-known white supremacist political figures.
The former Ku Klux Klan leader had publicly praised Trump's candidacy and encouraged his listeners to support Trump.
That created an obvious question for the Republican presidential frontrunner:
Did Trump want Duke's support?
Trump had actually addressed the issue at a press conference two days earlier.
When a reporter told him that Duke had endorsed him, Trump responded that he hadn't known about the endorsement and then said:
“I disavow.”
But when the subject came up again on CNN on February 28, Trump's answer was very different.
“I Don't Know Anything About David Duke”
Trump appeared remotely on CNN's State of the Union with Jake Tapper.
Tapper asked about Duke and support Trump was receiving from white supremacist groups.
Trump responded:
“I don't know anything about David Duke.”
He also said he didn't know about the white supremacist groups Tapper was referring to.
Tapper then made the question more explicit.
Would Trump unequivocally condemn those groups and say he didn't want their support?
Trump still didn't simply say yes.
Instead, he said he would need more information.
“I have to look at the group.”
Trump said Tapper could send him a list and he would research the organizations before deciding whether they should be disavowed.
Then Tapper eliminated virtually any possible ambiguity.
“The Ku Klux Klan?”
Trump still didn't immediately condemn it.
He responded that there might be groups on the list that were “totally fine” and said it would be unfair to condemn organizations without researching them.
Tapper tried once more.
He made clear that he was specifically talking about David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan.
Trump again said he didn't know Duke.
There Was a Problem With That Explanation
Trump's claim that he knew little or nothing about David Duke immediately attracted scrutiny.
Duke wasn't an obscure political figure Trump had never previously encountered in public discussion.
In 2000, while considering a presidential campaign through the Reform Party, Trump had specifically mentioned Duke.
Trump explained at the time that the Reform Party included what he called a “Klansman, Mr. Duke,” and said that was not company he wanted to keep.
Sixteen years later, Trump was telling a national television audience that he didn't know enough about Duke to answer the question directly.
The contradiction became part of the controversy.
Republicans Condemn the Exchange
Trump's Republican opponents quickly attacked him.
Marco Rubio said the Republican Party should not nominate someone who wouldn't repudiate the Ku Klux Klan.
Ted Cruz publicly called the KKK abhorrent and said racism was wrong.
The Republican National Committee also made clear that the party rejected such organizations.
Trump's answer had transformed what could have been a routine rejection of an extremist endorsement into a national campaign controversy.
And it happened only two days before Super Tuesday.
Trump Says He Disavows Duke
Later that same day, Trump attempted to clarify his position.
He posted a message pointing to his earlier press conference:
“As I stated at the press conference on Friday regarding David Duke — I disavow.”
The following morning, Trump offered another explanation for what had happened during the CNN interview.
He blamed the remote television setup.
Trump said he had been using a “very bad earpiece” and had difficulty hearing Tapper.
He maintained that he had already disavowed Duke and had no problem doing so again.
But the explanation faced an obvious complication.
The interview transcript showed Trump responding directly to several of Tapper's questions about Duke, white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan.
Whatever Trump could or couldn't hear through the earpiece, the exchange itself was now part of the campaign record.
Why Didn't He Just Say No?
That became the central question surrounding the episode.
Trump ultimately said he rejected Duke.
He had said so before the interview.
He said so again afterward.
But during a nationally televised interview, when directly asked whether he condemned David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan, Trump repeatedly avoided giving the straightforward answer Tapper was requesting.
The controversy therefore wasn't simply about whether Trump eventually disavowed Duke.
He did.
It was about what happened in the minutes before he did.
A presidential candidate had been handed an opportunity to unequivocally reject support from one of the most notorious white supremacist organizations in American history.
Instead, Americans watched an extended discussion about whether Trump first needed to investigate the group.
Another Controversy That Didn't Stop Trump
Like so many controversies during Trump's campaign, the Duke episode generated enormous attention.
Republican opponents condemned him.
News organizations replayed the interview.
Trump defended himself.
And then the campaign continued.
Two days later, Republican voters went to the polls across the country on Super Tuesday.
Once again, an incident that might have severely damaged a conventional presidential campaign did not bring Trump's candidacy to an end.
The pattern was becoming increasingly familiar.
Donald Trump would create a controversy.
Political opponents would declare that he had finally gone too far.
The media would spend days discussing it.
And Trump would keep moving toward the Republican nomination.