In keeping with their candidate’s disdain for “political correctness,” Donald Trump’s followers don’t feel the need to hide their racism beneath white sheets anymore. A white nationalist SuperPAC calling itself the “American National SuperPAC “is openly making phone robo-calls in support of Trump in New Hampshire:
A white nationalist super PAC that recently made automated phone calls in Iowa in support of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has turned its attention to New Hampshire, urging voters there to support the businessman in next week’s first-in-the-nation primary.
“We don’t need Muslims. We need smart, well-educated white people,” a voice says on the New Hampshire robocall.
“I am a farmer and a white nationalist. Support Donald Trump,” says another.
The group was created by the Chairman of the American Freedom Party, William Johnson. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks domestic hate groups, the American Freedom Party is a group “initially established by racist Southern California skinheads that aims to deport immigrants and return the United States to white rule.”
The robo-calls feature the voice of Jared Taylor, an editor at the white supremacist media outlet “American Renaissance”:
The magazine and foundation promote the view that differences in educational outcomes and per capita incomes between racial populations can be attributed at least in part to differences in intelligence between races. Mark Potok and Heidi Beirich, in the Intelligence Report (a publication of the Southern Poverty Law Center), wrote: "Jared Taylor is the cultivated, cosmopolitan face of white supremacy. He is the guy who is providing the intellectual heft, in effect, to modern-day Klansmen." They also stated that "American Renaissance has become increasingly important over the years, bringing a measure of intellectualism and seriousness to the typically thug-dominated world of white supremacy"
According to Wikipedia, typical attendees at AR’s bi-annual conferences include “neo- Nazis, White Nationalists, Holocaust deniers and eugenicists.” Taylor told CNN that Trump’s anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric impressed him highly and was the impetus for backing the Republican candidate:
“Most white people would prefer to live in majority white neighborhoods and send their children to majority white schools. And deep in their bones, they are deeply disturbed by an immigration policy that is making the United States majority non-white,” said Taylor. “So when Donald Trump talks about sending out all the illegals, building a wall and a moratorium on Islamic immigration, that’s very appealing to a lot of ordinary white people.”
Trump’s campaign didn’t respond when MSNBC asked them to comment or provide a statement, suggesting that he’s perfectly comfortable with their support.
The sheets are off. Welcome to the New Normal for the Republican Party.