Former Ku Klux Klan leader and current Louisiana senate candidate David Duke sent out a fundraising letter last week urging residents to support a Duke-Donald Trump ticket on Election Day.
In a copy of the mailer sent to TPM, the white nationalist leader claims that Trump has elevated many of the issues that made him a national figure in the 1990s, from “stopping immigration, fair trade not free trade, and America First.”
“Thank God Trump has emerged and embraced my issues,” Duke writes in the letter, which was first sent out on Oct. 6 and flagged by the Huffington Post.
The former KKK imperial wizard and one-term Louisiana state representative framed himself and Trump as two outspoken politicians unfairly targeted by the media for their unorthodox views.
“The media has raked me over the coals, targeted me, lied endlessly about me, but I have never given up,” Duke wrote in the mailer. “I’m still standing, still fighting, and I remain unbroken.”
Duke has aligned himself with Trump since the early days of the campaign, heaping praise on his derogatory remarks about Mexican immigrants and building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. While Trump initially claimed not to know who Duke was, he disavowed his support under pressure in February and has been asked to do so on multiple occasions since.
The white nationalist has trailed in the polls in Louisiana’s crowded Senate race, and is using the common threads between his campaign and Trump’s to bolster his support. In August, he launched a robocall effort telling Louisiana residents to support a Duke-Trump ticket, and he has lavished Trump with praise in multiple press interviews.
In his fundraising letter, Duke promises to send an autographed hat emblazoned with “I’m for Duke & Trump” on the front to all supporters who donate $50 or more to his campaign.
