David Duke and most high profile K.K.K. Clansman and former leader endorses Donald Trump. by Abigail Tracy ( Republished with permission of the Author and Vanity Fair in which the article first appeared )

David Duke and most high profile K.K.K. Clansman and former leader endorses Donald Trump. by Abigail Tracy ( Republished with permission of the Author and Vanity Fair in which the article first appeared )

The Republican nominee’s K.K.K. problem isn’t going away. Trump has been asked the question numerous times and still hasn't himself distanced himself from the K.K. K. endorsement.

Donald Trump may not want the support of David Duke, but unfortunately for him, the former Ku Klux Klan leader is giving it. As the Trump campaign battles criticism for its recent, tone-deaf attempts to court black voters and as Republicans desperately fight to maintain control of Congress in a number of key battleground states, the last thing they need is the unrelenting endorsement of the nation’s most prominent white nationalist. But they have it.Trump has and now that he has it is resisting any temptation to walk away from it.

On Sunday, vice presidential nominee Mike Pence condemned Duke’s effusive praise of Trump, after the former klansman said he was “overjoyed” to see the Republican nominee’s campaign “embrace most of the issues that I have championed for years.” In an interview with CNN’s State of the Union, Pence said Duke’s backing upset him, adding, “We don’t want the support of people who think like David Duke.” and yet again Pence is at odds with his running mate Trump. Trump himself has not yet distanced himself from this huge alt right rolls royce endorsement by the Crusader , the monthly mouthpiece of the K.K.K..

But the former K.K.K. grand wizard was apparently unperturbed by Pence’s disavowal. Instead of distancing himself from the Trump campaign, Duke lent his voice to robocalls that are going out to Louisiana voters, BuzzFeed News reported Monday, urging them to support both his senate bid and Trump for president in November. “Unless massive immigration is stopped now, we’ll be outnumbered and outvoted in our own nation. It’s happening,” Duke says in the robocalls. “Look at the Super Bowl salute to the black Panther cop killers. It’s time to stand up and vote for Donald Trump for president and vote for me, David Duke, for the U.S. Senate.”

The Trump campaign distanced itself from the recording. In a statement to Politico, a spokesperson said: “There is no place for this in the Republican Party or our country. We have knowledge of these calls and related activities, but strongly condemn and disavow.”. The statement however did not come from Trump's headquarters in Trump Towers rather from their little token office in California , A State Hillary Clinton leads by 27% . But Duke’s unsolicited plaudit for Trump comes at an inauspicious time for the campaign. In recent weeks, the Trump campaign has faced a deluge of criticism for its outreach to black voters. Trump’s frank pitch to African-American voters—“What the hell do you have to lose?”—was condemned for relying heavily on stereotypes of the African-American community. Over the weekend, the Republican standard bearer faced a fresh wave of backlash for his use of Dwyane Wade’s cousin’s death in a callous tweet to encourage votes in his favor.

The Trump campaign’s Duke headaches, however, date back well before it decided to ramp up its efforts to reach black voters. The presidential hopeful was slow to disavow the K.K.K. leader’s endorsement of his candidacy earlier this year and still hasn't done so conclusively. And while Trump did later say that he didn’t need Duke’s endorsement, but welcomed all endorsements, the damage was done. Since then, his campaign has struggled to distance itself from Duke and the white-supremacist movement—a battle it is not alone in fighting. The Republican Party of Louisiana is trying to prevent Duke from running as a member of the Party of Lincoln in the future, the Daily Beast reports. “David Duke is a convicted felon and a hate-filled fraud who does not embody the values of the Republican Party,” Louisiana Republican Party Chairman Roger F. Villere Jr., said in a statement. G.O.P. lawmakers in the state reportedly hope to change Louisiana’s bylaws to prevent convicted felons and individuals with links to hate groups from running for public office.

Duke’s fervent support for Trump, meanwhile, is a boon for Hillary Clinton, whose latest strategy involves linking her Republican opponent to the most hateful voices among his right-wing base. In a speech last week, Clinton excoriated the billionaire for hiring Stephen Bannon, a former Breitbart News executive, as his campaign C.E.O., and accused Trump of “reinforcing harmful stereotypes and offering a dog whistle to his most hateful supporters.” That same day, the Democratic nominee also released a campaign ad rife with racially charged imagery and a man identified as a klansman explaining why he supports Trump. The Republican’s campaign reacted with outrage, but white nationalists who saw the speech were thrilled to get the recognition. Duke, despite being spurned, is apparently still a Trump supporter, too.

David Duke and most high profile K.K.K. Clansman and former leader endorses Donald Trump. by Abigail Tracy ( Republished with permission of the Author and Vanity Fair in which the article first appeared )

David Duke and most high profile K.K.K. Clansman and former leader endorses Donald Trump. by Abigail Tracy ( Republished with permission of the Author and Vanity Fair in which the article first appeared )

The Republican nominee’s K.K.K. problem isn’t going away. Trump has been asked the question numerous times and still hasn't himself distanced himself from the K.K. K. endorsement.

Donald Trump may not want the support of David Duke, but unfortunately for him, the former Ku Klux Klan leader is giving it. As the Trump campaign battles criticism for its recent, tone-deaf attempts to court black voters and as Republicans desperately fight to maintain control of Congress in a number of key battleground states, the last thing they need is the unrelenting endorsement of the nation’s most prominent white nationalist. But they have it.Trump has and now that he has it is resisting any temptation to walk away from it.

On Sunday, vice presidential nominee Mike Pence condemned Duke’s effusive praise of Trump, after the former klansman said he was “overjoyed” to see the Republican nominee’s campaign “embrace most of the issues that I have championed for years.” In an interview with CNN’s State of the Union, Pence said Duke’s backing upset him, adding, “We don’t want the support of people who think like David Duke.” and yet again Pence is at odds with his running mate Trump. Trump himself has not yet distanced himself from this huge alt right rolls royce endorsement by the Crusader , the monthly mouthpiece of the K.K.K..

But the former K.K.K. grand wizard was apparently unperturbed by Pence’s disavowal. Instead of distancing himself from the Trump campaign, Duke lent his voice to robocalls that are going out to Louisiana voters, BuzzFeed News reported Monday, urging them to support both his senate bid and Trump for president in November. “Unless massive immigration is stopped now, we’ll be outnumbered and outvoted in our own nation. It’s happening,” Duke says in the robocalls. “Look at the Super Bowl salute to the black Panther cop killers. It’s time to stand up and vote for Donald Trump for president and vote for me, David Duke, for the U.S. Senate.”

The Trump campaign distanced itself from the recording. In a statement to Politico, a spokesperson said: “There is no place for this in the Republican Party or our country. We have knowledge of these calls and related activities, but strongly condemn and disavow.”. The statement however did not come from Trump's headquarters in Trump Towers rather from their little token office in California , A State Hillary Clinton leads by 27% . But Duke’s unsolicited plaudit for Trump comes at an inauspicious time for the campaign. In recent weeks, the Trump campaign has faced a deluge of criticism for its outreach to black voters. Trump’s frank pitch to African-American voters—“What the hell do you have to lose?”—was condemned for relying heavily on stereotypes of the African-American community. Over the weekend, the Republican standard bearer faced a fresh wave of backlash for his use of Dwyane Wade’s cousin’s death in a callous tweet to encourage votes in his favor.

The Trump campaign’s Duke headaches, however, date back well before it decided to ramp up its efforts to reach black voters. The presidential hopeful was slow to disavow the K.K.K. leader’s endorsement of his candidacy earlier this year and still hasn't done so conclusively. And while Trump did later say that he didn’t need Duke’s endorsement, but welcomed all endorsements, the damage was done. Since then, his campaign has struggled to distance itself from Duke and the white-supremacist movement—a battle it is not alone in fighting. The Republican Party of Louisiana is trying to prevent Duke from running as a member of the Party of Lincoln in the future, the Daily Beast reports. “David Duke is a convicted felon and a hate-filled fraud who does not embody the values of the Republican Party,” Louisiana Republican Party Chairman Roger F. Villere Jr., said in a statement. G.O.P. lawmakers in the state reportedly hope to change Louisiana’s bylaws to prevent convicted felons and individuals with links to hate groups from running for public office.

Duke’s fervent support for Trump, meanwhile, is a boon for Hillary Clinton, whose latest strategy involves linking her Republican opponent to the most hateful voices among his right-wing base. In a speech last week, Clinton excoriated the billionaire for hiring Stephen Bannon, a former Breitbart News executive, as his campaign C.E.O., and accused Trump of “reinforcing harmful stereotypes and offering a dog whistle to his most hateful supporters.” That same day, the Democratic nominee also released a campaign ad rife with racially charged imagery and a man identified as a klansman explaining why he supports Trump. The Republican’s campaign reacted with outrage, but white nationalists who saw the speech were thrilled to get the recognition. Duke, despite being spurned, is apparently still a Trump supporter, too.

DAVID DUKE MISSED THE MEMO THAT TRUMP DOESN’T WANT HIS SUPPORT by Abigail Tracy ( Republished with permission of the Author and Vanity Fair in which the article first appeared )

The Republican nominee’s K.K.K. problem isn’t going away. Trump has been asked the question numerous times and still hasn't himself distanced himself from the K.K. K. endorsement.

Donald Trump may not want the support of David Duke, but unfortunately for him, the former Ku Klux Klan leader is giving it. As the Trump campaign battles criticism for its recent, tone-deaf attempts to court black voters and as Republicans desperately fight to maintain control of Congress in a number of key battleground states, the last thing they need is the unrelenting endorsement of the nation’s most prominent white nationalist. But they have it.Trump has and now that he has it is resisting any temptation to walk away from it.

On Sunday, vice presidential nominee Mike Pence condemned Duke’s effusive praise of Trump, after the former klansman said he was “overjoyed” to see the Republican nominee’s campaign “embrace most of the issues that I have championed for years.” In an interview with CNN’s State of the Union, Pence said Duke’s backing upset him, adding, “We don’t want the support of people who think like David Duke.” and yet again Pence is at olds with his running mate Trump. Trump himself has not yet distanced himself from this huge alt right rolls royce endorsement.

But the former K.K.K. grand wizard was apparently unperturbed by Pence’s disavowal. Instead of distancing himself from the Trump campaign, Duke lent his voice to robocalls that are going out to Louisiana voters, BuzzFeed News reported Monday, urging them to support both his senate bid and Trump for president in November. “Unless massive immigration is stopped now, we’ll be outnumbered and outvoted in our own nation. It’s happening,” Duke says in the robocalls. “Look at the Super Bowl salute to the black Panther cop killers. It’s time to stand up and vote for Donald Trump for president and vote for me, David Duke, for the U.S. Senate.”

The Trump campaign distanced itself from the recording. In a statement to Politico, a spokesperson said: “There is no place for this in the Republican Party or our country. We have knowledge of these calls and related activities, but strongly condemn and disavow.”. The statement however did not come from Trump's headquarters in Trump Towers rather from their little token office in California , A State Hillary Clinton leads by 27% . But Duke’s unsolicited plaudit for Trump comes at an inauspicious time for the campaign. In recent weeks, the Trump campaign has faced a deluge of criticism for its outreach to black voters. Trump’s frank pitch to African-American voters—“What the hell do you have to lose?”—was condemned for relying heavily on stereotypes of the African-American community. Over the weekend, the Republican standard bearer faced a fresh wave of backlash for his use of Dwyane Wade’s cousin’s death in a callous tweet to encourage votes in his favor.

The Trump campaign’s Duke headaches, however, date back well before it decided to ramp up its efforts to reach black voters. The presidential hopeful was slow to disavow the K.K.K. leader’s endorsement of his candidacy earlier this year and still hasn't done so conclusively. And while Trump did later say that he didn’t need Duke’s endorsement, but welcomed all endorsements, the damage was done. Since then, his campaign has struggled to distance itself from Duke and the white-supremacist movement—a battle it is not alone in fighting. The Republican Party of Louisiana is trying to prevent Duke from running as a member of the Party of Lincoln in the future, the Daily Beast reports. “David Duke is a convicted felon and a hate-filled fraud who does not embody the values of the Republican Party,” Louisiana Republican Party Chairman Roger F. Villere Jr., said in a statement. G.O.P. lawmakers in the state reportedly hope to change Louisiana’s bylaws to prevent convicted felons and individuals with links to hate groups from running for public office.

Duke’s fervent support for Trump, meanwhile, is a boon for Hillary Clinton, whose latest strategy involves linking her Republican opponent to the most hateful voices among his right-wing base. In a speech last week, Clinton excoriated the billionaire for hiring Stephen Bannon, a former Breitbart News executive, as his campaign C.E.O., and accused Trump of “reinforcing harmful stereotypes and offering a dog whistle to his most hateful supporters.” That same day, the Democratic nominee also released a campaign ad rife with racially charged imagery and a man identified as a klansman explaining why he supports Trump. The Republican’s campaign reacted with outrage, but white nationalists who saw the speech were thrilled to get the recognition. Duke, despite being spurned, is apparently still a Trump supporter, too.

For the sake iof Zion: 10,000 reasons why never to vote for Bernie Sanders

He is a long-serving US senator, who seeks the Democratic nomination for president and whose words influence the public and certainly his own supporters.

Democratic US presidential candidate and US Senator Bernie Sanders speaks at the NBC News - YouTube Democratic presidential candidates debate. (photo credit:REUTERS)

As his white hair and demeanor let on, Bernie Sanders is no youngster or political novice.

He is a long-serving US senator, who seeks the Democratic nomination for president and whose words influence the public and certainly his own supporters.

But there are some who would write off his dangerous and shocking statements in that interview with the New York Daily News – in which he claimed among other things that Israel killed 10,000 innocent Palestinians in the summer of 2014. Sanders later said he’d merely made a mistake about the figure, that should be forgiven, as a mistake made by a child or an amateur would be.

The Anti-Defamation League, the primary Jewish organization which publicly demanded that Sanders issue a correction, appears to have taken this approach. It “welcomed” Sanders’ statement that he accepted the much lower number of deaths in Gaza mentioned by one of the Daily News interviewers later on in the interview.

The ADL’s attitude is essentially this: Sanders confused some numbers and then accepted he was wrong. It could happen to anyone.

It is true that much of the outrage focused on the grossly inaccurate “10,000” number Sanders gave for civilian deaths in Gaza. The ADL’s initial statement, for example, mentioned that Sander’s said Israel’s use of force was “disproportionate,” but was primarily dedicated to the highly exaggerated number of civilian deaths. David Horovitz’s attention-grabbing headline was, “Seven Times Worse than Hamas: Bernie Sanders by the Numbers,” and his article focused mostly on the claim of 10,000 killed.

Indeed, if it were just a question of getting a number right, then the indignation of Jewish organizations and Israeli politicians would be partially misplaced, as Jerusalem Post op-ed editor Seth Frantzman suggested in his recent column. It would also follow that having publicly accepted that 10,000 Palestinian civilians were not killed, those dedicated to countering the defamation of Israel should drop the matter, as the ADL has.

But Sanders’ did not just confuse numbers.

His accusation against Israel was more damning than any number could be. Sanders claimed that Israel indiscriminately killed 10,000 civilians.

“I think most international observers would say that the attacks against Gaza were indiscriminate,” Sanders said. With the technology available, “they could have been more discriminate in terms of taking out weapons that were threatening them,” he argued.

Then he gave the 10,000 number. Then he again said, “I do believe and I don’t think I’m alone in believing that Israel’s force was more indiscriminate than it should have been.”

So more than merely inflating the number of those killed by a factor of seven, Sanders essentially accused Israel of mass murder.

As to his numerical error, this too cannot be so easily written off.

Even considering how many have been slaughtered in Syria just next door, killing 10,000 people is no less of a slaughter, especially if done in the span of a few weeks, as Sanders believed.

What seems to have confused some people about whether Sanders is responsible for his statements were the myriad disclaimers Sanders tacked on to his many accusations to give himself cover, just like the politician he pretends not to be.

“My recollection is”; “Does that sound right?”; “I don’t have... [an exact] number but I think it’s over 10,000”; “My understanding is that a whole lot of apartment houses were leveled”; “Hospitals, I think, were bombed”; “So yeah, I do believe and I don’t think I’m alone in believing....”

But by going on record and repeating, exaggerating, and basing a political position on an accusation of wrongdoing, Sanders essentially endorsed that accusation, regardless of the disclaimers. If Sanders was as unsure as he made himself out to be, he ought not to have repeated such outrageous accusations at all.

At best Sanders readily accepted a claim that Israel committed mass murder. Had he any sympathy for Israel, the 10,000 number would not have left his mouth.

He might also have been aware that accusations like the one he repeated and embellished are constantly hurled at Israel to demonize it and would not have added to the anti-Semitic mob’s cry.

This was not just a misfired synapse or a lack of precise information. It was a presumption about who is terrorizing who in the conflict between democratic Israel and Palestinian terrorists.

This is not something that a little education can fix, as Sanders’ appointment of new Jewish outreach director, Simone Zimmerman, has confirmed. (In a recent op-ed in Haaretz, she wrote, “No public relations trick can save Israel’s image. The problem isn’t with the hasbara [public diplomacy]”). Sanders himself is no ignoramus. He’s a political veteran and like Zimmerman, an idealist with a definite world view. Israel just does not figure too highly in that world view.

In the Daily News interview, Sanders said he thought Israel should be recognized as a Jewish state.

But when asked why, he didn’t say, as even President Barack Obama has said, that the Jewish people need a state of their own or that Israel is their ancestral homeland.

Instead, Sanders replied, “that’s the status quo.”

The flip side of such reasoning being that if it were not the status quo, Sanders would not necessarily support the existence of a Jewish state.

Sanders’ answer to a bigoted question about “Zionist Jews” a few days later at the Apollo in Harlem, New York, seems to confirm this. Sanders responded that he was “proud to be Jewish,” but he added the proviso that “you’re not going to find any candidate running for president, for example, to talk about Zionism” – which is the rationale for the existence of a Jewish state in the land of Zion.

Sanders has also made clear how, as president, he would relate to Israel.

“[T]o the degree that they want us to have a positive relationship,” Sanders said of Israel in his discussion with the Daily News, “I think they’re going to have to improve their relationship with the Palestinians.”

According to Sanders, support for Israel should depend on how it gets along with the people who refuse to recognize its right to exist and constantly wage terrorism campaigns against it.

Under president Bernie Sanders all Palestinian terrorist groups will have to do to destroy Israel’s relationship with the United States is wage war on Israel, hide among their own civilian population to create a high level of civilian casualties and claim Israel is firing indiscriminately.

President Sanders will not doubt such claims and may even parrot them in a press conference. Palestinian spokesmen like Saeb Erekat won’t even have to falsify the casualty numbers. President Sanders might make up a number for them.

Believing, publicly repeating, exaggerating and essentially endorsing blood libels against Israel, as Bernie Sanders did and as he may do as president, is no mere error of arithmetic or memory to be quickly forgiven and forgotten.