Donald Trump said in a new interview he is not a racist, and he cited boxing promoter Don King to make his case.
"Well, I am not a racist, in fact, I am the least racist person that you've ever encountered," Trump told
The Washington Post. "I'll give you an example. It's funny, I just got this, it was just sent to me by Don King.
"Now, Don knows more about race than anybody. He owns this newspaper, you know — Don's made a lot of money. He just sent this to me, look at this."
But on Saturday, Don King was denying he had endorsed Trump.
King told the New York Daily News at Muhammad Ali's funeral that he does not endorse Trump, saying he is "endorsing the people."
“No,” King said to the Daily News. “I’m endorsing the people. I’m not a Republican or a Democrat, I’m a Republicrat, and I go with the will of the people. The only reason Trump exists is because of the will of the people.”
But, King added that he likes Trump and that he is not racist.
“I like Mr. Trump,” King told the Daily News. “He’s an idol of America. That’s shaded the way the media wants to shade it.”
Trump proceeded to show the Post reporter a copy of Call & Post, a weekly publication owned by King. On the back was a full-page endorsement of Trump for president and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for vice president.
"Isn't that funny? You know, Don endorsed me," Trump told the Post. "You wanna take that back with you? You know, this could be a story, it just came out. He just delivered it to my office. But isn't that funny?
"This is Don King. Now, Don King knows racism probably better than anybody. He's not endorsing a racist, OK? Do you want to use it? You can have the story, it just came out. I just got it 10 minutes ago, I don't know. Whatever."
Trump added he is "not concerned" that people will think of him as a racist in the
wake of comments he's made about the Mexican-American judge presiding over a lawsuit against him.
"Bill Clinton was called a racist by Obama," Trump said. "I don't think people believe Clinton is a racist. I don't think they believe that I'm a racist."
High-ranking members of the Republican Party have called for Trump to down his criticisms of U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel, including
House Speaker Paul Ryan.
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