Josh Hafner

USA TODAY

A debate erupted on CNN Tuesday over Donald Trump's comments on the Ku Klux Klan, with one contributor saying the group lynched African Americans "to further the progressive agenda."

As Super Tuesday results rolled in, Republican Jeffrey Lord clashed with Democrat Van Jones over the KKK's roots in American politics and their bearing on Trump's presidential campaign today.

CNN later called the moment "a microcosm of the national discussion over racial divisiveness."

Jones, a former White House adviser to Barack Obama, accused Trump of hypocrisy for regularly condemning terrorism while refusing Sunday to condemn support he's gained from a former KKK leader.

"When you talk about terrorism, he gets passionate. He says, 'No, this is wrong,'" Jones said. "But when you talk about the Klan, 'I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.' That's wrong."

Lord, a Trump supporter and one-time member of the Reagan administration, responded by characterizing the KKK as a group historically tied to the Democratic party.

Jones dismissed Lord's comment as irrelevant, alluding to major demographic shifts over the past century that changed the faces of both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Lord continued: "This is what liberals do: You were dividing people by race."

"The Klan divided people by race," Jones shot back. "The Klan killed people by race."

"And they did it to further the progressive agenda," said Lord.

Recently, Lord has equated Trump's support among white supremacists with Barack Obama's support from the controversial minister Jeremiah Wright — a point Jones took issue with Tuesday.

"Rev. Wright never killed anybody," Jones said. "Rev. Wright never put anybody on a post."

[h/t CNN]

Follow Josh Hafner on Twitter: @joshhafner