--- title: Donald Trump Blames "Lousy Earpiece" for KKK Controversy description: Donald Trump blamed a "lousy earpiece" for his response to an endorsement by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. canonical: https://time.com/4241091/donald-trump-david-duke-ku-klux-klan-marco-rubio-earpiece/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-29T15:09:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:27.475Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Blames 'Lousy Earpiece' for KKK Controversy og:description: He said he didn't hear a question from CNN well. og:url: https://time.com/4241091/donald-trump-david-duke-ku-klux-klan-marco-rubio-earpiece/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15ec329dbd73c95e/69887f690a4a2262519c8930/donald-trump-benito-mussolini.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Fort Worth og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Blames 'Lousy Earpiece' for KKK Controversy twitter:description: He said he didn't hear a question from CNN well. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15ec329dbd73c95e/69887f690a4a2262519c8930/donald-trump-benito-mussolini.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Blames 'Lousy Earpiece' for KKK Controversy > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Feb 29, 2016 3:09 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is pictured in Fort Worth, Texas, Feb. 26, 2016. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is pictured in Fort Worth, Texas, Feb. 26, 2016. Tom Pennington—Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Feb 29, 2016 3:09 PM UTC Donald Trump blamed a “lousy earpiece” for his response to an endorsement by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. The Republican front-runner told NBC’s _Today Show_ that he could barely hear CNN’s Jake Tapper during a previous interview, leading to the confusion over wether he had denounced the group or not. “I sit down and I have a lousy earpiece provided by them,” Trump said. “What I heard was ‘various groups.’ I have no problem disavowing groups but I’d at least like to know who they are. It’d be very unfair disavowing a group if they shouldn’t be disavowed.” Since the former Ku Klux Klan leader [endorsed Trump last Wednesday](http://time.com/4237602/david-duke-donald-trump/), the billionaire has tried to brush off his support. Trump said he disavowed Duke’s endorsement on Friday. But the interview with Sunday ruffled some feathers when Trump didn’t offer an explicit denouncement of Duke and the KKK, [telling CNN that he didn’t know enough to pass judgement](http://time.com/4240268/donald-trump-kkk-david-duke/). Trump is looking to solidify his vice grip on the Republican presidential race with a victories at tomorrow’s Super Tuesday early voting contests. [The billionaire has more supporters than his GOP opponents combined](http://time.com/4241005/clinton-and-trump-ahead-before-super-tuesday-in-latest-poll/?xid=homepage), according to a poll released Monday. Establishment favorite Marco Rubio chimed in on the matter, telling supporters at a rally Monday that Trump’s behavior made him “unelectable.” “I don’t care how bad the earpiece is, Ku Klux Klan comes though pretty clearly,” Rubio told the crowd Monday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4241091/donald-trump-david-duke-ku-klux-klan-marco-rubio-earpiece/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4241091/donald-trump-david-duke-ku-klux-klan-marco-rubio-earpiece/"},"headline":"Trump Blames 'Lousy Earpiece' for KKK Controversy","datePublished":"2016-02-29T15:09:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:27.475Z","description":"Trump clarifies his position on a David Duke endorsement","url":"https://time.com/4241091/donald-trump-david-duke-ku-klux-klan-marco-rubio-earpiece/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election","Sen. 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