Like Donald Trump, David Duke, the former KKK Grand Wizard was a Democrat who switched to the Republican Party. In fact, Duke was a Republican Candidate seeking the nomination for United States Presidential Candidate in 1992. Many dixiecrats have been defecting over to the Republican Party post Civil Rights era. The political realignment of the old confederate south now belongs to the GOP soon after the rise of Strom Thurmond and Barry Goldwater.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center:
David Duke is the most recognizable figure of the American radical right, a neo-Nazi, longtime Klan leader and now international spokesman for Holocaust denial who has nevertheless won election to Louisiana's House of Representatives and once was nearly elected governor.
David Duke recently told his audience on Wednesday, February 24, 2016, that voting for anyone besides Donald Trump “is really treason to your heritage.” Trump had also indicated he knew of Duke during a Friday, February 26, 2016, press conference, and said: "David Duke endorsed me? OK, all right. I disavow, OK?" Yet on February 28, 2016, Donald Trump on Sunday morning refused to condemn actions taken and comments made by the Ku Klux Klan and one of its former leaders, claiming he needed to do "more research" before taking a position.
Trump's refusal to strongly condemn David Duke's action was met with push back from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senators Marco Rubio and Cruz. After the push back, Trump then blamed CNN for providing a ‘lousy earpiece,’ in explaining his non-answer to [Jake Tapper] when asked to disavow the Ku Klux Klan and David Duke.
And speaking of Mr. Duke, today, March 2, 2016, his head exploded during an interview today with Newsmax TV host Steve Malzberg when he appropriately introduced Duke as a former KKK wizard. See video here.
What can this all mean?
For starters, it opens the door for Mitt Romney to be the "hero" and attack Trump, as the Republican Party begins to take Trump seriously too little and too late.
On Twitter, Romney wrote:
A disqualifying & disgusting response by @realDonaldTrump to the KKK. His coddling of repugnant bigotry is not in the character of America.
Now Romney is expected to use a speech soon to criticize GOP front-runner Donald Trump, emphasizing that Trump is the wrong person to lead the Republican Party in November and underscoring the “choices facing the Republican Party and the country” in this election according to the CNN Wire. That said, Mitt Romney must remember he has his own bigotry demons to face and pointing fingers at Trump will remind voters how many fingers are pointed at Romney, too.
Reasonable and informed voters know that Donald Trump is playing a dangerous KKK game, and he is out of control for the GOP. However, it's going to take a whole helluva lot more than Romney's hypocritical stance to stop him. It's clear the dixiecrats have been defecting over to the Republican Party, but the real blame ought to go to the Republican Party Chair Reince Priebus who runs a top-down organization that allowed an anti-immigrant platform to be adopted in 2012. That platform became a magnet for the likes of Kris Kobach, Donald Trump, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and more. It seems to me that Donald Trump is being more outspoken and vocal instead of the likes of what Kris Kobach whispers behind closed doors.
