July 22, 2016

Former KKK Leader David Duke Announces He’s Running for Senate

He sees Trump’s ascendancy as his moment to break into the mainstream.

AP File

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


Last night, former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke was ecstatic over GOP nominee Donald Trump’s convention speech; this morning he announced his plans to capitalize on what he sees as a ripe political moment and run for Louisiana’s open US Senate seat.

Duke didn’t draw a direct line between Trump and himself, but he could barely contain his excitement over Trump just hours before his official announcement:

Then, this morning, Duke posted a video to his website announcing his candidacy for Senate as a Republican, and describing himself as the “first American politician in modern times to promote the policy of America First,” a clear nod to Trump’s repeated use of the phrase throughout his campaign. Duke clearly saw Trump’s ascendancy as his moment to break into the mainstream, gloating on Twitter during Trump’s speech last night about the expanding “Overton window”—the range of ideas the public is willing to discuss and accept in the mainstream.

Last fall, Duke publicly endorsed Trump, who was slow to disavow the white supremacist’s approval. Trump later claimed it was a misunderstanding, but his campaign has attracted a series of white nationalist and openly racist supporters.

Duke, a felon who was convicted of tax fraud, served in the Louisiana Legislature for one term between 1989 and 1992. He later ran for the White House in a long shot bid in 1992 and has continued to periodically run for various state and federal offices, though he has never won.

Take the next step: Help us fight for the truth.

Investigative journalism, like the story you just read, takes time to do. Months of research. Weeks of writing, editing, and fact checking—and putting together the photography, art, video, and audio that tell the stories in a new way, illuminating new perspectives and voices.

We can afford to take that time because we don’t report to an oligarch or corporation with a special agenda. We report to you, and for you. That’s why we unabashedly pursue the truth and relentlessly shine a light into the darkness.

In this month’s Summer Membership Drive, we’ve got to raise $200,000 to support more crucial investigations. This is a pivotal moment in our nation, with democracy on the line, and we can only do this work because readers like you step up. Every donation, of any amount, makes a difference here. We cannot do this work without you.

So, we’re asking: Will you support independent journalism that demands those in power answer for their actions?

Take the next step: Help us fight for the truth.

Investigative journalism, like the story you just read, takes time to do. Months of research. Weeks of writing, editing, and fact checking—and putting together the photography, art, video, and audio that tell the stories in a new way, illuminating new perspectives and voices

We can afford to take that time because we don’t report to an oligarch or corporation with a special agenda. We report to you, and for you. That’s why we unabashedly pursue the truth and relentlessly shine a light into the darkness.

In this month’s Summer Membership Drive, we’ve got to raise $200,000 to support more crucial investigations. This is a pivotal moment in our nation, with democracy on the line, and we can only do this work because readers like you step up. Every donation, of any amount, makes a difference here. We cannot do this work without you.

So, we’re asking: Will you support independent journalism that demands those in power answer for their actions?

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

INDEPENDENT. BECAUSE OF YOU.

Mother Jones has no billionaires calling the shots—just readers like you making fearless reporting possible

Donate