Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke debated Wednesday night as part of his Senate campaign in Louisiana. While Duke will lose that race, the scary part is how much his kind of thinking has taken over the Republican Party. For instance, here’s Duke:
Asked by the moderator to explain a blog post he wrote about “CNN Jews,” Duke replied, "There is a problem in America with a very strong, powerful tribal group that dominates our media, dominates our international banking. I'm not opposed to all Jews."
Here’s Donald Trump a few weeks ago:
“The Clinton machine is at the center of this power structure,” he said. “We’ve seen this firsthand in the WikiLeaks documents, in which Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers, her special-interest friends and her donors.”
Trump doesn’t say “Jews” out loud, but it’s basically the same rhetoric.
Duke again:
“It was just admitted by Clinton that our government's been supporting Saudi Arabia which she admits was supporting ISIS,” he asserted. “The lady should be getting the electric chair, being charged with treason."
Trump veterans adviser Al Baldasaro:
“This whole thing disgusts me, Hillary Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason.”
Trump has refused to distance himself from Baldasaro, including taking a question from him at his fake town hall event. And then there’s Trump's own rhetoric about jailing Clinton. Duke again:
“There was a demo out here, by the Black Lives Matter radicals,” he said. “Why is that? Because I stand up for you. The Black Lives Matter movement calls for the murder of police officers and death to police. I defend you and our country from these radicals who are destroying America.”
Trump:
"Everybody is free to say what you want to say up to a point," Trump said. "But when you are calling death to police and to kill the police, essentially -- which is what [Black Lives Matter] said -- that's a real problem, Bill. That's a real big problem."
Add in the Oklahoma state representative who suggested the firing squad for Clinton, the black church in Mississippi set on fire and spray painted with “vote Trump,” basically everything Rep. Steve King ever said, basically everything Maine Gov. Paul LePage ever said … the list goes on, and it’s hard not to conclude that, however badly David Duke himself loses his election, he’s still speaking for a lot of his fellow Republicans.
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