Republican presidential contender Donald Trump had already been endorsed by the white nationalist American Freedom Party, neo-nazi Daily Stormer, and white nationalist outfits including American Renaissance, Occidental Dissent, White Genocide Project, Council of Conservative Citizens, and the League of the South, but the racist endorsement that finally got the attention of the media — and rival GOP campaigns — was the endorsement of Trump’s candidacy by David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. But Mr. Duke didn’t just endorse Donald Trump; he first did that last August.
Why is the racist tide behind Trump finally an issue? It’s a function of the 2016 GOP campaign’s odd progress. GOP politicians and media commentators first regarded the Trump candidacy as a flash-in-the-pan publicity stunt that would quickly blow over. The Republican Party, though, had already reduced itself to political self-parody, a boiling Tea Party kettle of steaming resentment, and that’s the force powering the Trump locomotive.
But it’s not just ex-klansman David Duke. Current leaders of the Ku Klux Klan are urging members to support Donald Trump. And Mr. Trump is returning the favor. By stoking the fires hate, the Trump campaign is helping recruit new Klan membership.
More:
“David Duke: Voting against Trump is ‘treason to your heritage,'” Eliza Collins, Politico
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“Donald Trump’s Rapidly Growing Fan Base of White Supremacists,” Izzy Galvez, Medium
“Meet The Members Of Donald Trump’s White Supremacist Fan Club,” Daniel Marans and Kim Bellware, Huffington Post
“Top Racists And Neo-Nazis Back Donald Trump,” Andrew Kaczynski and Christopher Massie, BuzzFeed News
“Trump 2016: White Nationalists Throw Their Support Behind The Donald,” Southern Poverty Law Center
“Donald Trump Plays Dumb When Confronted About Retweeting White Supremacists,” Jason Nawara, Raw Story
“The Fearful and the Frustrated,” Evan Osnos, The New Yorker
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