Of all the many slimy things Donald Trump has done, his coddling of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke ranks among the most vile and degenerate.
Desperate to win the 2016 Republican primary in South Carolina, where Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) was polling well among whitesupremacists and Christian fundamentalists, Trump engaged in a game of footsie with Duke. Trump hungered for alt-right voters in the Deep South even if it meant kissing up to the Klan. When pressed by CNN’s Jake Tapper three times to refuse Duke’s support, Trump balked. His excuse, issued days later, was that his earpiece wasn’t working properly.