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Bobby Knight on why he's a Trump surrogate: “goddamn Benghazi”

Coach Bobby Knight was among the celebrity surrogates making the rounds at Hofstra University just hours before the first presidential debate. In an interview with VICE News in “Spin Alley” (formerly known as “The Spin Room”), Knight adamantly expressed his support of Trump’s candidacy and testified to his character.

“As I’ve seen him, as I’ve known him, I think that the guy is just a really, really good, tough guy,” he said.

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But when VICE News asked about the recent Washington Post report that Trump used his charitable foundation to pay $258,000 of his business legal fees, Knight said “well I don’t know, that stuff I don’t know, see. Have you ever been with Trump? No. I have been.”

VICE News also asked Knight, who coached hundreds of black basketball players over several decades, why he thinks Trump is polling so low in the black community.

“I don’t know that it is so low, you think it is, maybe somebody else doesn’t,” he said. Presented with polls showing Trump’s support in the single digits among African Americans, Knight said “I don’t know what those pollsters are, what those people, I’ve never read or studied it so I can’t say.”

Did he agree with Trump’s contention last week that the black community was in “the worst shape they have ever been in before. Ever, ever, ever”? Knight seem surprised at Trump’s comments and said: “Well I don’t know that, I haven’t studied that, if he made that comment. I’m not in a position to be able to make a decision on that one way or another.”

What about Clinton has made him wary of her candidacy?

Knight, a refreshingly honest surrogate in a room full of spin, said “I don’t even pay any attention, I don’t know anything about her.” After thinking for a few seconds, Knight explained that under a Trump presidency “there will never be another goddamn Benghazi situation.”

Ever the coach, Knight ended the interview with a little slap to my stomach. “You did good,” he said.