David Duke Campaign Fundraising Letter Praises Trump For Embracing His ‘Issues’

CORRECTS MONTH - Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke talks to the media at the Louisiana Secretary of State's office in Baton Rouge, La., on Friday, July 22, 2016, after registering to run for the U.S. Senate, sayi... CORRECTS MONTH - Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke talks to the media at the Louisiana Secretary of State's office in Baton Rouge, La., on Friday, July 22, 2016, after registering to run for the U.S. Senate, saying "the climate of this country has moved in my direction." Duke's candidacy comes one day after Donald Trump accepted the GOP nomination for president, and Duke said he's espoused principles for years that are similar to the themes Republicans are now supporting in Trump's campaign, on issues such as immigration and trade. (AP Photo/Max Becherer) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

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.

Latest Livewire
23
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for sooner sooner says:

    “Thank God Trump has emerged and embraced my issues,” Duke writes in the letter,

    Why yes, we are all thanking God for her decision to waste good human protoplasm on the likes of you, HO Hitler and Mussolini.

    Indeed!

  2. Duke once said, if you scratch a republican underneath you will find a David Duke. With Trump you don’t need to scratch at all. Both are dispicable nazis.

  3. Trump… the only man in America who can bring together KKK grand wizards, British pedo pimps, and Russian state security.

  4. “The words I hear most are what Tim Madden told me at the Mandeville gun show…”

    If neither of the words that you hear most is “racist” or “bigot,” then you are not listening.

  5. Next week, HO gets and endorsement from Putin, Robert Mugabe and Kim Jong Eun.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

17 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for willpower Avatar for ajoguy Avatar for srfromgr Avatar for sooner Avatar for feathered_head Avatar for jloomis3 Avatar for epicurus Avatar for irasdad Avatar for sandyh Avatar for inversion Avatar for chethardy Avatar for georgekaplan Avatar for twowolves Avatar for tena Avatar for jacksonhts Avatar for tiowally Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for centralasiaexpat Avatar for maximus

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