White Supremacists for Trump
In an election season that has been anything but predictable, one thing seems pretty certain: Donald Trump has the support of white supremacists in the bag.
Let’s start by talking about Twitter.
Trump tweeting this image with a Star of David plays into tired and offensive stereotypes about Jews. His campaign later took down the tweet, replaced the star with a circle, and then Trump said he wished they had never removed the tweet. Though this behavior is typical of the disaster that is the Trump campaign, this is not typical of what is considered respectful behavior by the American people.
But that was hardly the first time Trump got into trouble with his tweets. Here’s an example:
It’s a safe rule of thumb to avoid retweeting anyone with “white genocide” in their Twitter handle. Like, bare minimum here.
And he blamed this one on an intern:
There’s more: Just hours after retweeting a quote from Benito Mussolini and refusing to denounce the support of the KKK, Trump was endorsed by Senator Jeff Sessions, who, if you’ll remember, was rejected from a federal judicial appointment after he said he thought the Klan was “okay until I learned they smoked pot.”
It’s not just a fluke that Donald Trump tweets and retweets content that is problematic to millions of Americans. It happens over and over again. White supremacists and anti-Semites are attracted to Trump’s dangerous ideas.
White supremacist leaders like former KKK leader David Duke and white nationalist (and Trump delegate to the Republican National Convention) William Johnson are doing prime outreach to their fellow racists. Here’s what Duke has to say to fellow white supremacists about Trump:
“Voting against Donald Trump at this point, is really treason to your heritage.” -David Duke, former leader of the KKK
The truth is that Trump continues to laud the divisive bigots who have endorsed him. His advisor made the excuse that Trump was “too busy” to keep denouncing his anti-Semitic and white nationalist supporters, which certainly seems like it should be a high priority for someone who wants to lead a nation as culturally diverse as this one.
In one interview, Trump failed four distinct times to condemn the KKK. Clarifying, he claimed he couldn’t condemn the KKK because he knew “nothing,” and it would be unfair to condemn groups that were “totally fine.” This isn’t Jon Snow, here. This is a man running for president — he should probably know something.
When asked what he thought of white supremacists supporting him, he simply responded with “a lot of people like me.”
People like anti-Semitic radio host James Edwards.
People like leading White Nationalist Jared Taylor.
People like the founder of the first major white supremacist website Stormfront.com and former KKK member Don Black.
And the list just keeps on growing.
Donald Trump’s ideas are dangerous for America. He’s only looking out for himself. He doesn’t respect the millions of people who have suffered, been tortured, and been killed at the hands of people who share these white nationalist values. It’s no wonder Trump is a boon for anti-Semites and white supremacists. He’s already caused enough division — he just can’t make it to the White House.
