Extreme Fringe Touts Anti-Immigration Hero Kris Kobach For Trump VP

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach talks with party members at the Republican election watch party in Topeka, Kan., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. Kobach is not on the ballot this election. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Some of the same circles of white nationalists and nativist hard right activists who have rallied around Donald Trump are now hoping the presumptive GOP nominee will pick Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach as his vice presidential candidate, according to a report by MSNBC.

Kobach, an early endorser of Trump, was the architect behind some of the harshest anti-immigration laws — including Arizona’s “show us your papers” measure SB 1070 — and has also been advocate of restrictive voting laws, including a proof-of-citizenship requirement that has been partially blocked by a federal court.

His name has been among those floated on the extreme right as speculation over Trump’s sweepstakes continues, MSNBC reported, particularly on fringe forums and from white nationalist leaders. For instance, Peter Brimelow — the founder of the website VDARE, which has been called an “anti-immigration hate website” by the Southern Poverty Law Center — included “Kobach for VP” in a post cheering Kobach’s endorsement of Trump. Brimelow reiterated the idea at a white nationalist conference in Tennessee last weekend, adding that he could also see Kobach serving as Trump’s Secretary of the Interior.

Allegra Kirkland contributed to this story.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: