Washington: Among the small number of American newspapers that have embraced Donald Trump’s campaign, there is one, in particular, that stands out.
It’s called the The Crusader — and it’s the official newspaper of the Ku Klux Klan.
Under the banner “Make America Great Again,” the paper’s current issue devoted its entire front page to a lengthy defence of Trump’s message — an embrace some have labelled a de facto endorsement.
“‘Make America Great Again!’ It is a slogan that has been repeatedly used by Donald Trump in his campaign for the presidency,” The Crusader’s Pastor Thomas Robb wrote. “You can see it on the shirts, buttons, posters and ball caps such as the one being worn here by Trump speaking at a recent rally ... But can it happen? Can America really be great again? This is what we will soon find out!”
“While Trump wants to make America great again, we have to ask ourselves, ‘What made America great in the first place?’” the article continues. “The short answer to that is simple. America was great not because of what our forefathers did — but because of who our forefathers were.
“America was founded as a White Christian Republic. And as a White Christian Republic it became great.”
Reached by phone, Robb told The Washington Post that while the paper wasn’t officially endorsing Trump, the article signalled the publication’s enthusiastic support for his candidacy.
“Overall, we do like his nationalist views and his words about shutting down the border to illegal aliens. It’s not an endorsement because, like anybody, there’s things you disagree with,” Robb said. “But he kind of reflects what’s happening throughout the world. There seems to be a surge of nationalism worldwide as nationals reclaim their borders.”
The 12-page-long, quarterly newspaper calls itself “The Political Voice of White Christian America!” and has a well-known white supremacist symbol on its front page. The latest edition includes articles about Jewish links to terrorism, black-on-white crime and a man who claims to be Bill Clinton’s illegitimate child. An article near the end of the paper writes that Trump’s candidacy is “moving the dialogue forward.”
The publication’s website states that its “number one goal” is to “stop white genocide.”
Since the earliest days of his presidential bid, Donald Trump has attracted the support of prominent white nationalists across the country, setting off fears that a dormant fringe faction of the GOP base — one steeped in xenophobic and white supremacist rhetoric — would be folded back into mainstream politics.
In the early months, white nationalists said they were reluctant to publicly throw their support behind the controversial billionaire for fear of harming his strengthening campaign. But the group said as Trump became more emboldened, they did too.
In January, Jared Taylor — editor of the white supremacist magazine American Renaissance — lent his voice to a robo-call recording urging registered voters in Iowa to back Trump. Those potential voters, Taylor told The Post, are part of a silent majority who are tired of being asked to celebrate diversity but are afraid of being labelled bigots.
A month later, Trump was embraced by former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, which led to a controversial exchange between CNN’s Jake Tapper and the Republican candidate. Asked by Tapper to “unequivocally condemn” Duke, Trump pleaded ignorance.
“Just so you understand, I don’t know anything about David Duke, OK?” Trump said.
Tapper pressed him several more times to disavow Duke and the KKK, but Trump again declined.
“I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists,” he said. “So I don’t know. I don’t know — did he endorse me, or what’s going on? Because I know nothing about David Duke; I know nothing about white supremacists.”
That same month, Rachel Pendergraft — the national organiser for the Knights Party, a standard-bearer for the Ku Klux Klan — told The Post that Trump’s campaign offered the organisation a new outreach tool for recruiting new members and expanding their formerly dwindling ranks.
