My, my. Donald Trump has always been about branding, and now he has some new high concept branding that will surely make him stick out in the minds of many voters. The former Ku Klux Klan Wizard and white nationalist David Duke is urging his supporters to get out there and work for Donald Trumps election and vote for the showman-realtor. Will Trump repudiate this support (don’t hold your breath but I could be wrong…):
David Duke, a white nationalist and former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, is urging the listeners of his radio program to volunteer and vote for Donald Trump.
“Voting for these people, voting against Donald Trump at this point is really treason to your heritage,” Duke said on the David Duke Radio Program Wednesday, referring to Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. “I’m not saying I endorse everything about Trump, in fact I haven’t formally endorsed him. But I do support his candidacy, and I support voting for him as a strategic action. I hope he does everything we hope he will do.”
Duke then urged his followers to call Trump’s campaign headquarters to volunteer.
“And I am telling you that it is your job now to get active. Get off your duff. Get off your rear end that’s getting fatter and fatter for many of you everyday on your chairs. When this show’s over, go out, call the Republican Party, but call Donald Trump’s headquarters, volunteer. They’re screaming for volunteers. Go in there, you’re gonna meet people who are going to have the same kind of mindset that you have.”
Yes, many have noted the mindset is the same with some Trump supporters, but their laundry bill on white sheets isn’t as high as Duke’s supporters’.
If Trump doesn’t distance himself from Duke, he might have a new memorable slogan:
“Make America White Again.”
He didn’t have to spell out what “same kind of mind-set” meant.
That’s because the very word “Trump” has become so closely associated with white grievance that it is literally being used as a racial taunt. On Monday night, in an example of what has apparently been a common occurrence throughout the season, a racially diverse high school basketball team in Iowa was forced to play (and win) through chants of “Trump” and “USA” from opposing fans.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.