The candidate vowed to single-handedly save the country from illegal immigration and worldwide terrorism by restoring “law and order”. “I respect what he’s doing”, Duke said. Trump’s campaign representatives, in turn, pronounced no statements on Friday concerned with Duke’s candidacy. Stop Wars! Defeat the Corrupt elites!
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He called for protecting American jobs and businesses, fair trade deals and eliminating outside money from campaign politics. Of that convention speech, Duke commented that he “couldn’t have said it better” himself.
In announcing his candidacy Friday, Duke thanked Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for popularizing his protectionist beliefs. His failed bid for governor in the 1991 race against former Gov. Edwin Edwards – who was later convicted of corruption – was one of Louisiana’s most high-profile elections, with Duke opponents proudly showing bumper stickers supporting Edwards that read “Vote for the crook”.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – A quarter century after his credible run for governor of Louisiana rattled the national political establishment, white supremacist David Duke has jumped into the crowded competition for a U.S. Senate seat in his home state, receiving rebuke from Republicans who don’t want him running on a ballot as a member of their party.
Duke is a former state representative who represented suburban New Orleans for one term more than two decades ago and was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress. The New York billionaire later blamed the broadcast earpiece for his failure to initially condemn support from the white nationalist. I’ll be damned if I allow David Duke, Al Sharpton, or any agitator to make a mockery of our nation or the great state of Louisiana.
In his short video, the 66-year-old Duke touched on – and embraced – some of the themes that catapulted Trump to the top of the Republican ticket on the back of support from disaffected white working and middle-class voters. The first thing Duke mentions in his announcement is that he believes in “equal rights for all and respect for all Americans”, but he emphasized that what made him different was that he demands respect for the “rights and heritage of European Americans”.
“Thousands of special-interest groups stand up for African Americans, Mexican Americans, Jewish Americans, et cetera, et cetera”, Duke said.
Matt Beynon, communication director for U.S. Rep. John Fleming, a Republican candidate for Senate.
Duke’s candidacy could also reawaken past controversy for House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, who acknowledged in December 2014 that he spoke to a white-supremacist group founded by Duke in 2002. He was the Pentagon during the 9-11 attacks and said he wrote three of the 40-page manual that travels with the president and guides decision-making during times of crisis.
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Duke has campaigned for the Senate before and even campaigned for the presidency in 1992, but won neither of those positions.
