Trump Campaign Defends Sons' Appearances On Show With Ties To White Nationalist

Yesterday, we reported that Donald Trump’s son Eric had appeared on “Liberty Roundtable,” a Utah-based radio program hosted by Sam Bushman, whose network also syndicates the white nationalist radio program “Political Cesspool” and who frequently invites “Political Cesspool” host James Edwards to be a guest on his program.

This was especially surprising given that back in March, another Trump son, Donald Trump Jr., stirred national controversy when he appeared on Bushman’s program and ended up taking questions from Edwards, who had also called in to the program. The campaign apparently wasn’t deterred by the experience, and sent both Eric Trump and economic adviser Stephen Moore to Bushman’s program in the last two weeks.

While we don’t categorize the “Liberty Roundtable” itself as white nationalist, the program’s ties to Edwards, a white nationalist, are clear—a fact that the Trump campaign itself demonstrated when Donald Trump Jr. ended up speaking with Edwards on the program.

But the Trump campaign has dug in its heels this time, releasing a statement to CNN stating that “Liberty Roundtable is a conservative program heard on radio stations and online, and dedicated to promoting the principles of the American founding” and insisting that the campaign “would never associate with any program that was even wrongly perceived to be affiliated with a message of hate”:

"As you know, we had no knowledge of James Edwards' participation and strongly rebuked him," Hope Hicks, a campaign spokeswoman, said in a statement, referring to Donald Trump Jr.'s interview. "Liberty Roundtable is a conservative program heard on radio stations and online, and dedicated to promoting the principles of the American founding. We would never associate with any program that was even wrongly perceived to be affiliated with a message of hate."

Incidentally, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that a white nationalist super PAC is planning to run ads in support of Trump starting this weekend on both “Political Cesspool” and “Liberty Roundtable.”