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Donald Trump Jr. left, looks on as his father, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, speaks at a caucus night watch party on February 23, 2016, in Las Vegas, Nevada. | Getty Radio personality who interviewed Donald Trump Jr.: Slavery is 'greatest thing' that happened to African Americans

Donald Trump’s oldest son gave a 20-minute interview last Tuesday to a panel that included a radio host who once wrote that slavery is the "greatest thing" that ever happened to African-Americans.

James Edwards — who is host of a radio show called “Political Cesspool” that has hosted leaders of the Ku Klux Klan, Holocaust deniers and neo-Nazis — was on a Super Tuesday episode of "The Liberty Roundtable" where he, along with host Sam Bushman and an additional co-host, interviewed Donald Trump Jr. In a blog post Edwards said he would air the interview on his own show March 5.

Edwards once wrote, “For blacks in the Americas, slavery is the greatest thing that ever happened to them. Unfortunately, it’s the worst thing that ever happened to white Americans,” Edwards wrote on his blog, citing a piece he said he read in the Jamaican Observer, however, the link he provided did not work.

The news of the interview with Trump's oldest son was first reported by New York Magazine on the heels of Donald Trump’s refusal to disavow white nationalist and former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke and the KKK on CNN. He blamed a faulty earpiece for his failure to disavow Duke and the KKK at that time, and has disavowed both before and after that incident.

While the interview took place Tuesday, Edwards did attend a Trump rally in Memphis last Saturday “as a fully credentialed member of the media” and did a live broadcast from the event.

The Trump campaign has been known to withhold media credentials from members of the press.

In his post about the event, Edwards praised Trump and encouraged his supporters to vote for him.

“The bottom line is that Trump is the only candidate who gives us a chance at having a fighter who will put America first. He’s the only candidate who isn’t owned and operated by special interests. With Trump, America has a chance to regain her identity,” he wrote in his blog. “A new day is dawning and it’s a beautiful sight to behold. Vote Trump.”

Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for Trump, told POLITICO in an email that Trump's son and the campaign had no knowledge of Edwards' views "and strongly condemns them."

"The campaign provided media credentials to everyone that requested access to the event on Saturday in Memphis. There were close to 200 reporters in attendance and we do not personally vet each individual," Hicks said. "The campaign had no knowledge of his personal views and strongly condemns them."

"Donald Trump Jr. was not in attendance and although he served as a surrogate for his father on several radio programs over the past week, to his knowledge and that of the campaign, did not participate in an interview with this individual," she continued.

Sam Bushman, the host of "The Liberty Roundtable" told POLITICO that he set up the interview, which is why the Trump campaign said it has no knowledge of the interview.

"We interviewed Donald Trump Jr. and it was a great broadcast," Bushman said. "It is true that James talked to Donald Trump Jr., as did I, as did my co-host.”

Bushman said that Edwards is not pro-slavery, pointing to the fact that Edwards had worked on Pat Buchanan's campaign, "where the vice presidential candidate was Ezola Foster, who happens to be black."

Bushman said that neither he nor Edwards are racist and that he would like to see Ben Carson, who announced he will end his political campaign Thursday, as Trump's running mate.

"I don't care if anybody is black or white. That doesn't make any difference," Bushman said. "I think slavery was absolutely evil ... Even though they came to America under horrible circumstances it's a blessing that they're here and it's a blessing that we have freedom for all of us."

"Would I have wished they came under better circumstances? Absolutely, of course I would," Bushman said. "I don't believe in white supremacy."

In a statement emailed to POLITICO, Edwards took issue with the way his work has been described.

"My show, The Political Cesspool, promotes a proud, paleoconservative Christian worldview, and we reject media descriptions of our work as 'white supremacist,' 'pro-slavery' and other such scare words," Edwards said. He added that the press credentialing and interview with Trump Jr. were not an endorsement from the campaign of Edwards' views.

"The grotesque way in which the media is purposefully misrepresenting my work and taking certain cherry-picked statements wildly out of context is both shameful and reprehensible. That said, I apologize for nothing and I retract nothing," he added.

