Hard to believe that anyone would court White Supremacist votes, but one candidate for Presidency did:
Then-2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump did not immediately condemn white supremacists because "a lot of these people vote," he told former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
That's according to
a Washington Post excerpt published Wednesday of a forthcoming book, titled "Confidence Man," by New York Times' White House correspondent Maggie Haberman.
Christie, a close ally of Trump's at the time, urged him during his 2016 campaign to more forcefully condemn white supremacists who had expressed support for his candidacy, including David Duke.
Trump told Christie that he would condemn them but not right away. "A lot of these people vote," he said before hanging up the phone, Haberman wrote.
During his time in office, Trump was often criticized for refusing to denounce white supremacists in harsh terms. After the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Trump
said days laterthat there was "blame on both sides."
In his 2020 presidential debate against then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden, Trump declined to unequivocally condemn white supremacists and militia groups when asked by moderator Chris Wallace to do so.
"Proud Boys, stand back and stand by," Trump responded, referring to the far-right group.
(full article online)
The excerpt comes in a forthcoming book by New York Times' White House correspondent Maggie Haberman.
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