David Ernest Duke is a former
Grand WizardGrand Wizard was the title given to the leader of the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan which existed from 1866 to 1871.In 1915, the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan was created, initially as a fraternal organization. The highest-ranking leader of the latter organization was the Imperial Wizard. National...
of the Knights of the
Ku Klux KlanKu Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
an American activist and writer, and former Republican
Louisiana State RepresentativeThe Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in 1988. Duke has unsuccessfully run for the
Louisiana State SenateThe Louisiana State Senate is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All Senators serve four year terms and are assigned multiple committees to work on. The Republicans control the State Senate following a Special Election Victory in District 26 by Jonathan W. Perry...
, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, and
Governor of Louisiana.
A former
Grand WizardGrand Wizard was the title given to the leader of the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan which existed from 1866 to 1871.In 1915, the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan was created, initially as a fraternal organization. The highest-ranking leader of the latter organization was the Imperial Wizard. National...
of the Knights of the
Ku Klux KlanKu Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, Duke describes himself as a
racial realistRacial realism is a view held by some political groups and individuals which holds that racial divisions of humans are based in biological reality, and that racial distinctions are enduringly important because racial groups differ genetically with regard to such important behavioral tendencies as...
, asserting that "all people have a basic human right to preserve their own heritage." He is a strong advocate of
opposition to ZionismAnti-Zionism is opposition to Zionistic views or opposition to the state of Israel. The term is used to describe various religious, moral and political points of view in opposition to these, but their diversity of motivation and expression is sufficiently different that "anti-Zionism" cannot be...
as well as what he asserts to be Zionist control of the
Federal Reserve BankThe twelve Federal Reserve Banks form a major part of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. The twelve federal reserve banks together divide the nation into twelve Federal Reserve Districts, the twelve banking districts created by the Federal Reserve Act of...
, the federal government and the
mediaAmerican Media, Inc., is a publisher of a number of major United States-based magazines and supermarket tabloids.-Company background:The modern American Media came into being after Generoso Pope, Jr., longtime owner of The National Enquirer, died in 1988, and his tabloids came under new ownership...
. Duke supports anti-immigration, both legal and illegal, preservation of what he labels
Western cultureWestern culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
and traditionalist Christian "
family valuesFamily values are political and social beliefs that hold the nuclear family to be the essential ethical and moral unit of society. Familialism is the ideology that promotes the family and its values as an institution....
", strict
ConstitutionalismConstitutionalism has a variety of meanings. Most generally, it is "a complex of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law"....
,
abolitionTax resistance is the refusal to pay tax because of opposition to the government that is imposing the tax or to government policy.Tax resistance is a form of civil disobedience and direct action...
of the
Internal Revenue ServiceThe Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
, voluntary
racial segregationRacial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
, ardent
anti-communismAnti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
and
white separatismWhite separatism is a separatist political movement that seeks separate economic and cultural development for white people. White separatists generally claim genetic affiliation with Anglo-Saxon cultures, Nordic cultures, or other white European cultures...
.
Youth and early adulthood
Duke was born in
Tulsa, OklahomaTulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
to David H. Duke and Alice Maxine Crick. As the son of an engineer for
Shell OilShell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 22,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. The head office in the U.S. is in Houston, Texas...
, Duke frequently moved with his family around the world. They lived a short time in the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, before settling in
LouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. In the late 1960s, Duke met the leader of the white supremacist National Alliance,
William PierceWilliam Luther Pierce III was the leader of the white separatist National Alliance organization, and one of the most important ideologists of the white nationalist movement. Pierce originally worked as an assistant professor of physics at Oregon State University, before he became involved in...
, who would remain a life-long influence. Duke joined the
Ku Klux KlanKu Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
in 1967.
Duke studied at
Louisiana State UniversityLouisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
(LSU) in
Baton RougeBaton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
, and in 1970, he formed a
whiteWhite people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
student group called the White Youth Alliance; it was affiliated with the
National Socialist White People's PartyHarold Armstead Covington is an American white supremacist, political activist and novelist. He advocates the creation of an "Aryan homeland" in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States....
. The same year, to protest
William KunstlerWilliam Moses Kunstler was an American self-described "radical lawyer" and civil rights activist, known for his controversial clients...
's appearance at
Tulane UniversityTulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
, Duke appeared at a demonstration in
NaziNazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
uniform. Picketing and holding parties on the anniversary of
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's birth, he became notorious on the LSU campus for wearing a Nazi uniform.
Duke claimed to have spent nine months in
LaosLaos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, calling that a "normal tour of duty". He actually went there to join his father, who was working there and had asked him to visit during the summer of 1971. His father got him a job teaching English to Laotian military officers, from which he was dismissed after six weeks when he drew a
Molotov CocktailThe Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
on the blackboard. He also claimed to have gone behind enemy lines twenty times at night to drop rice to anti-Communist insurgents in planes flying ten feet off the ground, narrowly avoiding receiving a shrapnel wound. Two Air America pilots who were in Laos at that time said that flights were during the day and flew no less than 500 feet from the ground. One suggested that it might have been possible for Duke to have gone on a safe "milk run" once or twice but no more than that. Duke was also unable to recall the name of the airfield used.
He graduated from
Louisiana State UniversityLouisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in 1974 after enrolling in 1968. During this time he spent what would have been his senior year organising the National Party.
Family and personal life
While working in the White Youth Alliance, Duke met Chloê Hardin, who became active in the group. They remained companions throughout college and married in 1974. Hardin is the mother of Duke's two daughters, Erika and Kristin. It is claimed that in 1977, David Duke, then married with two children, pursued female sex partners so avidly and so openly that it embarrassed many of his closest colleagues. Metzger, then Duke's state leader in southern
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, became livid when Duke showed up for a
KlanKLAN or Klan may be:* Klan TV, an Albanian TV channel* KLAN , an FM radio station licensed to Glasgow, Montana* Klan , a Polish television series* KLan or Kosovo LAN, an internet access provider based in Kosovo...
anti-immigrant "border watch" stunt and immediately started pursuing women. Duke divorced in 1984—arguably because Chloe was fed up with Duke's womanizing—and Chloe moved to
West Palm BeachWest Palm Beach, is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and is the most populous city in and county seat of Palm Beach County, the third most populous county in Florida with a 2010 population of 1,320,134. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida...
to be near her parents. There she became involved with Duke's Klan friend, Don Black, whom she later married. Duke also developed a life-long weakness for
gamblingGambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
As of 2009, it was confirmed that David Duke was living in
Zell am SeeZell am See is the capital city of the Zell am See district in the Austrian state of Salzburg. The city has about 10,000 inhabitants.Zell am See is a tourist destination and a transportation hub for the region...
in
SalzburgSalzburg is a state or Land of Austria with an area of 7,156 km2, located adjacent to the German border. It is also known as Salzburgerland, to distinguish it from its capital city, also named Salzburg...
,
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, from which he ran the Internet business "Art by Ernst", taking and selling photographs of rare birds, mountain scenery and wildlife under the pseudonym "Ernst Duke" (his middle-name "Ernest" Germanized). Local authorities have stated that as long as he does not break any laws, Duke is allowed to stay in Austria if he wishes. Duke has stated:
"I'm not in Austria for any political activities. I just come to Austria to relax – the mountains are beautiful. The Austrian Alps are just beautiful. There's beauty all over the world." In May 2009, Duke issued a statement denying that he resides in Austria and saying that he is a resident of
Mandeville, LouisianaMandeville is a city in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 12,421 in 2008. Mandeville is located on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, south of Interstate 12. It is across the lake from the city of New Orleans and its southshore suburbs...
, and is registered as a taxpayer in his city, state and on the national level.
Early campaigns
Duke first ran for the
Louisiana State SenateThe Louisiana State Senate is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All Senators serve four year terms and are assigned multiple committees to work on. The Republicans control the State Senate following a Special Election Victory in District 26 by Jonathan W. Perry...
as a
DemocratThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
from a Baton Rouge district in 1975. In 1979, he ran as a Democrat for the 10th District Senate seat and finished second in a three-candidate race with 9,897 votes (26 percent). Duke allegedly conducted a direct-mail appeal in 1987, using the identity and mailing-list of the Georgia Forsyth County Defense League without permission. League officials described it as a fund-raising scam. Duke was accused by several Klan officials of stealing his organization's money. "Duke is nothing but a con artist," Jack Gregory, Duke's Florida state leader, told the
Clearwater Sun (of Florida) after David Duke allegedly refused to turn over proceeds from a series of 1979 Klan rallies to the Knights. Another Klan official under Duke, Jerry Dutton, told reporters that Duke had used Klan funds to purchase and refurbish his home in Metairie. Duke later justified the repairs by saying most of his home was used by the Klan. In 1979, after his first, abortive run for president (as a Democrat) and a series of highly publicized violent Klan incidents, Duke quietly incorporated the nonprofit
National Association for the Advancement of White PeopleThe National Association for the Advancement of White People is a white nationalist organization in the United States which primarily advocates racial segregation. It was originally incorporated on December 14, 1953 in Delaware by Bryant Bowles. The following year an article was written on the...
(NAAWP) in an attempt to leave the baggage of the Klan behind.
1988 Democratic presidential campaign
In 1988, Duke ran initially in the
DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
presidential
primariesA primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
. His campaign failed to make much of an impact, with the one notable exemption of winning the little known New Hampshire Vice-Presidential primary. Duke, having failed to gain much traction as a Democrat, then successfully sought the
PresidentialThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
nomination of the
Populist PartyThe Populist Party was a political party in the United States between 1984 and 1996. It was far-right and often white nationalist in its ideology...
. He appeared on the ballot for President in eleven states and was a write-in candidate in some other states, some with
Trenton StokesTrenton Stokes of Arkansas, in addition to Floyd Parker, was one of two men who appeared on several state ballots as the Populist Party nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1988. Both men were David Duke's running mate that year, and their Populist Party ticket polled 47,047 votes,...
of
ArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
for
Vice PresidentThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
, and on other state ballots with
Floyd ParkerDr. Floyd Parker is a physician from New Mexico. Parker was one of two candidates for Vice President of the United States Trenton Stokes of Arkansas with the Populist Party for the 1988 US presidential election...
for Vice President. He received just 47,047 votes, for 0.04 percent of the combined, national popular vote.
1989: Successful run in special election for Louisiana House seat
In December 1988, Duke changed his political affiliation from the Democratic Party to the
Republican PartyThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
.
In 1988, Republican State Representative
Charles CusimanoCharles Vincent Cusimano, II, known as Chuck Cusimano is a Republican politician from Metairie in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana....
of
MetairieMetairie is a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States and is a major part of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish. It is an unincorporated area that would be larger than most of the state's cities if it were...
resigned his District 89 seat to become a 24th Judicial District Court judge, and a special election was called early in 1989 to select a successor. Duke entered the race to succeed Cusimano and faced several opponents, including fellow Republicans,
John Spier TreenJohn Speir Treen is a retired homebuilder from Metairie in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, who lost a 1989 special election for the Louisiana House of Representatives to the former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke. Treen is the older brother of the late David C. Treen, the first Republican governor of...
, a brother of former Governor
David C. TreenDavid Conner "Dave" Treen, Sr. , was an American attorney and politician from Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana – the first Republican Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana since Reconstruction. He was the first Republican in modern times to have served in the U.S...
, Delton Charles, a school board member, and
Roger F. Villere, Jr.Roger Francis Villere, Jr. is a businessman from Metairie in Jefferson Parish in suburban New Orleans who on March 26, 2004, was elected state chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party by the 144-member GOP State Central Committee. He succeeded Pat Brister of St...
, who operates Villere's Florist in Metairie. Duke finished first in the primary with 3,995 votes (33.1%). As no one received a majority of the vote in the first round, a runoff election was required between Duke and Treen, who polled 2,277 votes (18.9%) in the first round of balloting. John Treen's candidacy was endorsed by U.S. President
George H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
, former President
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, and other notable Republicans, as well as the Democrat
Victor BussieVictor V. Bussie was until his retirement in 1997 the 41-year unopposed president of the Louisiana AFL-CIO, having first assumed the mantle of union leadership in 1956. Journalists often described him as the most significant non-elected "official" in his state's politics...
(president of the Louisiana
AFL-CIOThe American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
) and Edward J. Steimel (president of the
Louisiana Association of Business and IndustryThe Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, known by the acronym LABI, is the largest and most successful business lobbying group in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was founded in Baton Rouge in 1976, when Louisiana adopted a new right-to-work law during the administration of Democratic...
and former director of the "good government"
think tankA think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
, the Public Affairs Research Council). Duke, however, hammered Treen on a statement the latter had made indicating a willingness to entertain higher
property taxA property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
es, anathema in that suburban district. Duke with 8,459 votes (50.7%) defeated Treen, who polled 8,232 votes (49.3%). He served in the House from 1990 until 1992.
As a short-term legislator, Duke was, in the words of a colleague,
Ron GomezRonald James Gomez, Sr., known as Ron Gomez , is a veteran print and broadcast journalist, author , and businessman from Lafayette, Louisiana, who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from Lafayette Parish, from 1980-1989. From 1990-1992, he was the secretary of natural resources in...
of
LafayetteLafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
, "so single minded, he never really became involved in the nuts and bolts of House rules and parliamentary procedure. It was just that shortcoming that led to the demise of most of his attempts at lawmaking."
One legislative issue pushed by Duke was the requirement that welfare recipients be tested for the use of narcotics. The recipients had to show themselves drug-free to receive state and federal benefits under his proposal.
Gomez recalls having met and interviewed Duke in the middle 1970s when Duke was a state senate candidate: "He was still in his mid-20s and very non-descript. Tall and slimly built, he had a very prominent nose, flat cheek bones, a slightly receding chin and straight dark brown hair. The interview turned out to be quite innocuous, and I hadn't thought about it again until Duke came to my legislative desk, and we shook hands. Who was this guy? Tall and well-built with a perfect nose, a model's cheek bones, prominent chin, blue eyes and freshly coiffed blond hair, he looked like a movie star. He obviously didn't remember from the radio encounter, and I was content to leave it at that."
Consistent with Gomez's observation, Duke in the latter 1980s reportedly had his nose thinned and chin augmented. Following his election to the Louisiana House of Representatives, he shaved his mustache.
Gomez continued: "He once presented a bill on the floor, one of the few which he had managed to get out of committee. He finished his opening presentation and strolled with great self-satisfaction back up the aisle to his seat. In his mind, he had spoken, made his presentation and that was that. Before he had even reached his desk and re-focused on the proceedings, another first-term member had been recognized for the floor and immediately moved to table the bill. The House voted for the motions effectively killing the bill. That and similar procedures were used against him many times." Gomez said that he recalls Duke obtaining the passage of only a single bill, legislation which prohibited movie producers or book publishers from compensating jurors for accounts of their court experiences.
Gomez added that Duke's "tenure in the House was short and uninspired. Never has anyone parlayed an election by such a narrow margin to such a minor position to such international prominence. He has run for numerous other positions without success but has always had some effect, usually negative, on the outcome."
Gomez continued: Duke's "new message was that he had left the Klan, shed the Nazi uniform he had proudly worn in many previous appearances and only wanted to serve the people. He eliminated his high-octane anti-Semitic rhetoric. He was particularly concerned with the plight of 'European-Americans.' He never blatantly spoke of race as a factor but referred to the 'growing underclass.' He used the tried and true demagoguery of class envy to sell his message: excessive taxpayers' money spent on welfare, school busing practices,
affirmative actionAffirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
... and set-aside programs. He also embraced a subject near and dear to every Jefferson Parish voter, protection of the
homestead exemptionHomestead exemption is a legal regime designed to protect the value of the homes of residents from property taxes, creditors, and circumstances arising from the death of the homeowner spouse...
."
Duke launched unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate in 1990 and governor in 1991. Villere did not again seek office but instead concentrated his political activity within the
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
organization.
1990 campaign for U.S. Senate
In 1990, in the October 6 primary, Duke ran as a Republican against three Democrats including incumbent Senator J. Bennett Johnston, Jr.
The Republican Party endorsed state Senator
Ben BagertBernard John "Ben" Bagert, Jr. is a prominent New Orleans attorney who was a member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature from 1970 to 1992. As a legislator, Bagert was known as a politician who did not follow structured party dogma...
of New Orleans, but national GOP officials anticipated that Bagert could not win and was fragmenting Johnston's support; so funding for Bagert's campaign was halted, and he dropped out two days before the election, though his name remained on the ballot.
Duke's views prompted some of his critics (including Republicans) to form the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, which directed media attention to Duke's statements of hostility to blacks and
JewsThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
. Duke received 43.51 percent (607,391 votes) of the vote to Johnston's 53.93 percent (752,902 votes).
In a 2006 editorial, Gideon Rachman (
The EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, the
Financial TimesThe Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
) recalled interviewing Duke's campaign manager (from his 1990 campaign) who said, "The Jews just aren't a big issue in Louisiana. We keep telling David, stick to attacking the blacks. There's no point in going after the Jews, you just piss them off and nobody here cares about them anyway."
1991 campaign for Governor of Louisiana
Despite repudiation by the Republican Party, Duke ran for Louisiana Governor in 1991. In the open primary, Duke was second to former governor
Edwin EdwardsEdwin Washington Edwards served as the Governor of Louisiana for four terms , twice as many terms as any other Louisiana chief executive has served. Edwards was also Louisiana's first Roman Catholic governor in the 20th century...
in votes; thus, he faced Edwards in a runoff. In the initial round, Duke received 32% of the vote. Incumbent Governor
Buddy RoemerCharles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is an American politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, from 1988 to 1992. He was elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party on March 11, 1991...
, who had switched from the Democratic to Republican parties during his term, came in third with 27% of the vote. Duke effectively killed Roemer's bid for re-election. While Duke had a sizable core constituency of devoted supporters, many voted for him as a "protest vote" to register dissatisfaction with Louisiana's establishment politicians. Duke said he was the spokesman for the "White majority."
The interest group, the Louisiana Coalition against Racism and Naziism, rallied against the election of Duke as governor. Among its leaders was
Beth RickeyElizabeth Ann "Beth" Rickey was a Republican political activist from Louisiana who exposed the neo-Nazi connections of former State Representative David Duke, who ran for the U.S...
, a moderate member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee and a
Ph.D.A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
student at
Tulane UniversityTulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
, who began to follow Duke to record his speeches and expose what she saw as instances of racist and neo-Nazi remarks. For a time, Duke took Rickey to lunch, introduced her to his daughters, telephoned her late at night, and tried to convince her that he was a mainstream conservative in the Reagan mold.
Between the primary and the runoff, called the "general election" under Louisiana election rules (in which all candidates run on one ballot, regardless of party), white supremacist organizations from around the country contributed to his campaign fund. Duke was endorsed by
James MeredithJames H. Meredith is an American civil rights movement figure, a writer, and a political adviser. In 1962, he was the first African American student admitted to the segregated University of Mississippi, an event that was a flashpoint in the American civil rights movement. Motivated by President...
, a black civil rights figure.
Duke's success garnered national media attention. While Duke gained the backing of the quixotic former
AlexandriaAlexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
Mayor
John K. SnyderJohn Kenneth Snyder, Sr., sometimes known as Tillie Snyder , was a colorful, outspoken Democratic mayor of Alexandria, Louisiana, from 1973–1977 and again from 1982-1986....
, he won few serious endorsements in Louisiana. Celebrities and organizations donated thousands to Edwards' campaign. Referencing Edwards' long-standing problem with accusations of corruption, popular bumper stickers read: "Vote for the Crook. It's Important," and "Vote for the Lizard, not the Wizard." When a reporter asked Edwards what he needed to do to triumph over Duke, Edwards replied with a smile: "Stay alive."
Edwards received 1,057,031 votes (61.2%). Duke's 671,009 votes represented 38.8% of the total. Duke claimed victory, saying: "I won my constituency. I won 55% of the white vote." Exit polls confirmed that he had.
1992 Republican Party presidential candidate
In 1992 Duke ran for the
nominationThe 1992 Republican presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1992 U.S. presidential election. Incumbent President George H.W...
. Republican Party officials tried to block his participation. He received 119,115 (0.94%) votes in the primaries, but no delegates to the national convention. His presidential campaign inspired a song by
Skankin' PickleSkankin' Pickle was an American ska punk band formed in San Jose, California that was active from 1989 to 1996.-Biography:Skankin' Pickle first formed in December 1988, made up of students from Westmont High School and Los Gatos High School. The band played their first show on April 28, 1989,...
.
In 1992 a film was released that investigated Duke's appeal among some white voters.
Backlash: Race and the American Dream explored the demagogic issues of Duke's platform, examining his use of black crime, welfare, affirmative action and white supremacy and tied Duke to a legacy of other white backlash politicians, such as Lester G. Maddox and George C. Wallace, Jr., and the use in the 1988 Presidential campaign of Pres. George H.W. Bush of these same racially themed hot buttons.
Late 1990s campaigns
When Johnston announced his retirement in 1996, Duke ran again for the
U.S. SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
. He polled 141,489 votes (11.5%). Former Republican state representative
Woody JenkinsLouis Elwood "Woody" Jenkins is a newspaper editor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972–2000 and waged three unsuccessful races for the United States Senate....
of Baton Rouge and Democrat
Mary LandrieuMary Loretta Landrieu is the senior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana and a member of the Democratic Party.Born in Arlington, Virginia, Landrieu was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana...
of New Orleans, the former state treasurer, went into the general election contest. Duke was fourth in the nine-person, jungle primary race.
Because of the sudden resignation of powerful Republican incumbent
Bob LivingstonRobert Linlithgow "Bob" Livingston Jr. is a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist and a former Republican U.S. Representative from Louisiana...
in 1999, a special election was held in Louisiana's First Congressional District. Duke sought the seat as a Republican and received 19% of the vote. He finished a close third, thus failing to make the runoff. His candidacy was repudiated by the Republicans. Republican Party Chairman
Jim NicholsonRobert James "Jim" Nicholson is an attorney, real estate developer, and a former Republican Party chairman. He was the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs from January 26, 2005 until October 1, 2007.-Personal life:...
remarked: "There is no room in the party of Lincoln for a Klansman like David Duke." Republican state representative
David VitterDavid Vitter is the junior United States Senator from Louisiana and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, he served in the United States House of Representatives, representing the suburban Louisiana's 1st congressional district. He served as a member of the Louisiana House of...
(now a U.S. Senator) went on to defeat Republican ex-Governor
David C. TreenDavid Conner "Dave" Treen, Sr. , was an American attorney and politician from Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana – the first Republican Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana since Reconstruction. He was the first Republican in modern times to have served in the U.S...
. Also in the race was the New Orleans Republican leader
Rob CouhigRobert Emmet Couhig, Jr., known as Rob Couhig , is an attorney, businessman, entrepreneur, Republican political activist, and a former radio talk show host from New Orleans, Louisiana. His last political foray was into the 2010 New Orleans mayoral election.A former partner of the Adams and Reese...
.
In 1999 Duke ran for Louisiana's First Congressional District. Duke finished third in the May 1, 1999 election with 28,059 votes (19.15%).
In 2004, Duke's bodyguard, roommate, and longtime associate Roy Armstrong made a bid for the
United States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, running as a Democrat, to serve Louisiana's First Congressional District. In the open primary Armstrong finished second in the six candidate field with 6.69% of the vote, but Republican
Bobby JindalPiyush "Bobby" Jindal is the 55th and current Governor of Louisiana and formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party....
received 78.40% winning the seat. Duke was the head advisor of Armstrong's campaign.
Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
In 1974, David Duke founded the Louisiana-based Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (KKKK), a Louisiana
Ku Klux KlanKu Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
organization, shortly after graduating from LSU. He became Grand Wizard of the KKKK. A follower of Duke,
Thomas RobbThomas Robb, also known as Thom Robb, is the national director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and a pastor at the Christian Revival Center.-Early life:Thomas Robb was born in Detroit, Michigan into a Baptist family and grew up in Tucson, Arizona....
, changed the title of
Grand WizardGrand Wizard was the title given to the leader of the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan which existed from 1866 to 1871.In 1915, the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan was created, initially as a fraternal organization. The highest-ranking leader of the latter organization was the Imperial Wizard. National...
to National Director, and replaced the Klan's white robes with business suits. Duke first received broad public attention during this time, as he endeavored to market himself in the mid-1970s as a new brand of Klansman: well-groomed, engaged, and professional. Duke also reformed the organization, promoting nonviolence and legality, and, for the first time in the Klan's history, women were accepted as equal members and
CatholicThe word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
s were encouraged to apply for membership. Duke would repeatedly insist that the Klan was "not anti-black", but rather "pro-white" and "pro-Christian."
NAAWP
In 1980, Duke left the Klan and formed the
National Association for the Advancement of White PeopleThe National Association for the Advancement of White People is a white nationalist organization in the United States which primarily advocates racial segregation. It was originally incorporated on December 14, 1953 in Delaware by Bryant Bowles. The following year an article was written on the...
(NAAWP).
On May 20, 2004, the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored PeopleThe National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
(NAACP) became outraged when it discovered that David Duke had chosen New Orleans to host his International NAAWP Conference during the NAACP's Big Easy Rally to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
Brown v. Board of EducationBrown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
decision.
Ernst Zündel and the Zundelsite
Duke has expressed his support for
Holocaust denierHolocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
Ernst ZündelErnst Christof Friedrich Zündel is a German Holocaust denier and pamphleteer who was jailed several times in Canada for publishing literature which "is likely to incite hatred against an identifiable group" and for being a threat to national security, in the United States for overstaying his visa,...
, a German who lived in Canada. Duke made a number of statements in support of Zündel and his Holocaust denial campaign. After the aging Zündel was deported from Canada to Germany and imprisoned in Germany on charges of inciting the masses to ethnic hatred, Duke referred to him as a "political prisoner".
Interregional Academy of Personnel Management
In September 2005, Duke received a Kandidat Nauk degree in History from the Ukrainian
Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (MAUP).
His doctoral thesis was titled "Zionism as a Form of Ethnic Supremacism." Prior to earning his Ph.D., Duke had received an
honorary doctorateAn honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
. Anti-Defamation League claims that MAUP is the main source of antisemitic activity and publishing in
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, and its "anti-Semitic actions" were "strongly condemned" by Foreign Minister
Borys TarasyukBorys Ivanovych Tarasyuk is a Ukrainian politician. He has twice served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. He is from Zhytomyr Oblast. Tarasyuk studied international relations and international law at National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, and graduated in 1975...
and various organizations. The Anti-Defamation League describes it as a "University of Hate". Duke has taught an international relations and a history course at MAUP.
New Orleans Protocol
Shortly after his release from prison for tax fraud in 2004, Duke organized a weekend gathering of "European Nationalists", in the vein of white nationalism, in
Kenner, LouisianaKenner is a city in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and a suburb of New Orleans. The population was 66,702 at the 2010 census....
. In an attempt to overcome the splintering and division that had followed the death of
William PierceWilliam Luther Pierce III was the leader of the white separatist National Alliance organization, and one of the most important ideologists of the white nationalist movement. Pierce originally worked as an assistant professor of physics at Oregon State University, before he became involved in...
in 2002, he presented a unity proposal for peace within the movement and a better image amongst outsiders. His proposal was accepted and is now known as the
New Orleans Protocol (NOP). It pledges adherents to a pan-European outlook, recognizing national and ethnic allegiance, but stressing the value of all European peoples. It has three provisions:
- "Zero tolerance for violence."
- "Honorable and ethical behavior in relations with other signatory groups. This includes not denouncing others who have signed this protocol. In other words, no enemies on the right."
- "Maintaining a high tone in our arguments and public presentations."
Those who signed the pact on May 29, 2004 include Duke, Paul Fromm, Don Black,
Willis CartoWillis Allison Carto is a longtime figure on the American far right. He describes himself as Jeffersonian and populist, but is primarily known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial.-Influences on Carto:...
,
Kevin Alfred StromKevin Alfred Strom is the former Managing Director of National Vanguard. Strom resigned from National Vanguard in July 2006...
, and
John TyndallJohn Hutchyns Tyndall was a British politician who was prominently associated with several fascist/neo-Nazi sects. However, he is best known for leading the National Front in the 1970s and founding the contemporary British National Party in 1982.The most prominent figure in British nationalism...
(signing as an individual, not on behalf of his
British National PartyThe British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
).
Finders-Keepers
Duke wrote a
self-helpSelf-help, or self-improvement, is a self-guided improvement—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. There are many different self-help movements and each has its own focus, techniques, associated beliefs, proponents and in some cases, leaders...
book for women to raise money under the
pseudonymA pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Dorothy Vanderbilt and James Konrad, titled
Finders-Keepers – Finding and Keeping the Man You Want which contains sexual, diet, fashion, cosmetic and relationship advice, published by Arlington Place Books in 1976. Professor Lawrence N. Powell, who read a rare copy of the book given to him by Patsy Sims, wrote that it includes advice on vaginal exercises,
fellatioFellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
, and
anal sexAnal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...
. The book is out of print and difficult to find; however, according to Tyler Bridges,
The Times-Picayune obtained a copy and traced its proceeds to Duke who compiled the information from women's self-help magazines.
My Awakening
Duke published his autobiography
My Awakening: A Path to Racial Understanding in 1998. The book details Duke's social philosophies, especially his reasoning behind
racial separationRacial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
. In the book, Duke says:
We (Whites) desire to live in our own neighborhoods, go to our own schools, work in our own cities and towns, and ultimately live as one extended family in our own nation. We shall end the racial genocide of integration. We shall work for the eventual establishment of a separate homeland for African Americans, so each race will be free to pursue its own destiny without racial conflicts and ill will.
The
Anti-Defamation LeagueThe Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
(ADL) book review refers to it as containing racist, antisemitic, sexist and homophobic views.
To raise the money to re-publish a new, updated edition of
My Awakening, Duke instigated a 21-day fundraising drive on November 26, 2007 where he had to raise "$25,344 by a December 17 deadline for the printers." Duke states this drive is necessary because the work "has become the most important book in the entire world in the effort to awaken our people for our heritage and freedom."
Jewish Supremacism
In 2002, Duke traveled to
Eastern EuropeEastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
to promote his book,
Jewish Supremacism: My Awakening on the Jewish Question in Russia in 2003. The book purports to "examine and document elements of ethnic supremacism that have existed in the Jewish community from historical to modern times." The book is dedicated to
Israel ShahakIsrael Shahak was a Polish-born Israeli professor of chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, known especially as a radical political thinker, author, and civil rights activist. Between 1970-1990, he was president of the Israeli League for Human and Civil Rights and was an outspoken critic...
, a critical author of what Shahak saw as supremacist religious teachings in Jewish culture. Former
Boris YeltsinBoris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
administration official and politician Boris Mironov wrote an introduction for the Russian edition, called
The Jewish Question Through the Eyes of an American.
The ADL office in Moscow urged the Moscow prosecutor to open an investigation of Mironov. The ADL office initiated a letter from a prominent Duma member to Russia’s Prosecutor General
Vladimir UstinovVladimir Vasilyevich Ustinov is a Russian politician.He currently is the Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Southern Federal District. Until 2008, he was Russia's Minister of Justice....
, urging a criminal case be opened against the author and the Russian publisher of Duke's book. The letter by Aleksandr Fedulov described the book as antisemitic and as violating Russian anti-hate crime laws. Around December 2001 Prosecutor's office closed the investigation of Boris Mironov and Jewish Supremacism. In a public letter,
Yury BiryukovYury Stanislavovich Biryukov is a Russian lawyer and politician.From June 7, 2000 to July 7, 2006, he was a First Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia. Since 2006 he has been a representative of the executive power branch of Nenets Autonomous Okrug in the Federation Council of Russia.-References:...
, First Deputy of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, stated that a socially-
psychological examinationA psychological evaluation or mental examination is an examination into a person's mental health by a mental health professional such as a psychologist. A psychological evaluation may result in a diagnosis of a mental illness...
, which was conducted as a part of the investigation, concluded that the book and the actions of Boris Mironov did not break Russian hate-crime laws.
Duke says his views had been "vindicated" with the publication of
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign PolicyThe Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy is the title of a book by John Mearsheimer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and Stephen Walt, Professor of International Relations at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, published in late August 2007...
by professors
John MearsheimerJohn J. Mearsheimer is an American professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He is an international relations theorist. Known for his book on offensive realism, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, more recently Mearsheimer has attracted attention for co-authoring and publishing...
and
Stephen WaltStephen Martin Walt is a professor of international affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Among his most prominent works are and . He coauthored The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy with John Mearsheimer.-Education and career:In 1983, he received a Ph.D. in...
, and said he was "surprised how excellent [the paper] is". Duke dedicated several radio webcasts to the book and the authors comparing it to his work
Jewish Supremacism, although Walt stated: "I have always found Mr. Duke's views reprehensible, and I am sorry he sees this article as consistent with his view of the world".
Duke says that his books "have become two of the two most influential and important books in the world." The ADL refer to the book as antisemitic, though Duke had denied the book is motivated by antisemitism. At one time, the book was sold in the main lobby of the building of Russian State
DumaA Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...
(lower house of parliament). The first printing of 5,000 copies sold out in several weeks.
In 2004, the book was published in the United States. Originally published in English and Russian, the book has subsequently been translated internationally into Swedish,
UkrainianUkrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
,
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, Hungarian, Spanish. and most recently (2010) into
FinnishFinnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
(ISBN 978-952-92-8137-4). In 2007, an updated edition was published which Duke purports to be a "fine quality hardback edition with full color dust jacket and it has a new index and a number of timely additions".
His website has hosted articles by various authors claiming that Jewish loan-sharks own the Federal Reserve Bank and that Jews own Hollywood and the American media.
Internet commentary
In 1995, Don Black and Chloê Hardin, Duke's ex-wife, began a small
bulletin board systemA Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
(BBS) called
StormfrontStormfront is a white nationalist and supremacist neo-Nazi Internet forum that has been described as the Internet's first major hate site.Stormfront began as an online bulletin board system in the early 1990s before being established as a website in 1995 by former Ku Klux Klan leader and white...
. Today, Stormfront has become a prominent online forum for
white nationalismWhite nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition of national identity for white people. White separatism and white supremacism are subgroups within white nationalism. The former seek a separate white nation state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and...
,
Neo-NazismNeo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
,
hate speechHate speech is, outside the law, any communication that disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or other characteristic....
and
racismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
. Duke has an account on Stormfront which he uses to post articles from his own website, www.davidduke.com, as well as polling forum members for opinions and questions, in particular during his internet broadcasts. Duke has worked with Don Black on numerous projects including
Operation Red DogOperation Red Dog was the code name of plan by Canadian and American mercenaries, largely affiliated with white supremacist and Ku Klux Klan groups, to overthrow the government of Dominica, where they planned to restore former Prime Minister Patrick John to power...
in 1980.
On February 5, 2002, Duke said, on his
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
radio show, that
Ariel SharonAriel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
was "the world's worst terrorist" and that
MossadThe Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
was involved in the September 11 attacks. The broadcast said that
ZionistsZionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
were behind the attacks in order to reduce sympathy for
MuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
nations in the West, and that the number of Israelis killed in the attack was lower than it would be under normal circumstances, citing early assessments by
The Jerusalem PostThe Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
and "the legendary involvement of Israeli nationals in businesses at the
World Trade CenterThe original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
". According to Duke, this indicated that Israeli security services had prior knowledge of the attack.
On August 5, 2005, Duke published an article stating support for
Cindy SheehanCindy Lee Miller Sheehan is an American anti-war activist whose son, U.S. Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, was killed by enemy action during the Iraq War. She attracted national and international media attention in August 2005 for her extended anti-war protest at a makeshift camp outside President...
, saying that:
The Iraq war and her son's death did not defend America from hatred or terrorism ... In fact, the war is massively increasing hatred and terrorism. For every one terrorist killed in Iraq, we are creating thousands more who hate and want to hurt America and Americans. This is the surest way to lose the war on terror, not win it.
On February 4, 2009, Duke repeatedly called
MSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
pundit
Keith OlbermannKeith Theodore Olbermann is an American political commentator and writer. He has been the chief news officer of the Current TV network and the host of Current TV's weeknight political commentary program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, since June 20, 2011...
"
untermenschUntermensch is a term that became infamous when the Nazi racial ideology used it to describe "inferior people", especially "the masses from the East," that is Jews, Gypsies, Poles along with other Slavic people like the Russians, Serbs, Belarussians and Ukrainians...
" on his radio show in response to being labeled "Worst Person in the World" on
Countdown with Keith OlbermannCountdown with Keith Olbermann is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program that airs on Current TV, where it began airing on June 20, 2011. The program was broadcast on MSNBC from March 31, 2003, to January 21, 2011. On MSNBC, the show presented five selected news stories of...
.
Public address in Syria
On November 24, 2005, Duke visited
DamascusDamascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
,
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, addressing a rally which was broadcast on Syrian television, and later giving an interview. During the rally, he referred to
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
as a "war-mongering country" and stated that Zionists "occupy most of the American media and now control much of the American government…It is not just the West Bank of Palestine, it is not just the Golan Heights that are occupied by the Zionists, but Washington D.C. and New York and London and many other capitals of the world.” He concluded by stating: "Your fight for freedom is the same as our fight for freedom.” After speaking at the rally, Duke gave an interview where he said that Israel "makes the
NaziNazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
state look very, very moderate." Syrian parliament member Muhammad Habash later stated that Duke's visit gave Syrians a "new and very positive view of the average American."
Comments in the media
Since 2005, Duke has appeared three times on
Current Issues, a
Lafayette, LouisianaLafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
–based television show hosted and produced by Palestinian-American
Hesham TillawiHesham Tillawi is a Palestinian-American writer, TV talk show host, and political analyst living in Lafayette, Louisiana. He holds a doctoral degree in international relations from Bernelli University, Hesham Tillawi is a Palestinian-American writer, TV talk show host, and political analyst living...
, which has recently been picked up by Bridges TV. Show host Tillawi gave Duke the opportunity to discourse at length about his beliefs about Jewish supremacism. On a show in October 2005, Duke claimed that Jewish extremists are responsible for undermining the morality of America and are attempting to "wash the world in blood."
After John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt's paper on
the Israel LobbyThe Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy is the title of a book by John Mearsheimer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and Stephen Walt, Professor of International Relations at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, published in late August 2007...
appeared in March 2006, Duke praised the paper in a number of articles on his website, on his March 18 Live Web Radio Broadcast, and on
MSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
's March 21
Scarborough CountryScarborough Country was an opinion/analysis show broadcast on MSNBC Monday - Thursday at 9 P.M. ET. It was hosted by former congressman Joe Scarborough....
program. According to
The New York Sun, Duke said in an email, "It is quite satisfying to see a body in the premier American university essentially come out and validate every major point I have been making since even before the war even started." Duke added that "the task before us is to wrest control of America's foreign policy and critical junctures of media from the Jewish extremist
NeoconNeoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
s that seek to lead us into what they expectantly call World War IV."
Conferences
Duke organized a gathering of European Nationalists who signed the New Orleans Protocol on May 29, 2004. The signatories agreed to avoid infighting among far-right
racialistRacialism is an emphasis on race or racial considerations. Currently, racialism entails a belief in the existence and significance of racial categories, but not necessarily that any absolute hierarchy between the races has been demonstrated by a rigorous and comprehensive scientific process...
s.
On June 3, 2005, Duke co-chaired a conference named "Zionism As the Biggest Threat to Modern Civilization" in Ukraine, sponsored by the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management. The conference was attended by several notable Ukrainian public figures and politicians, and writer
Israel ShamirIsrael Shamir is a writer and journalist. He is a commentator on Arab - Israeli relations and Jewish culture. Originally from Novosibirsk, Siberia, Shamir says he moved to Israel in 1969, serving in the 1973 war, after which he took up journalism and writing...
.
Duke claims that Swedish police thwarted an attempted assassination against him, in August 2005, while Duke was speaking in Sweden.
On the weekend of June 8–10, 2006, Duke attended as a speaker at the international "White World's Future" conference in Moscow, which was coordinated and hosted by Pavel Tulaev. From December 11–13, he Duke attended the
International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the HolocaustThe International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust was a two-day conference that opened on December 11, 2006, in Tehran, Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the conference sought "neither to deny nor prove the Holocaust.....
in
TehranTehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
,
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, opened by
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stating "The Holocaust is the device used as the pillar of Zionist imperialism, Zionist aggression, Zionist terror and Zionist murder."
Duke attended the conference, along with Gazi Hussein (Syria); Dr Rahmandost (conference chair, Society for Supporting People of Palestine); Jan Bernhoff, a Swedish computer science teacher who maintains that 300,000 Jews died during the Holocaust; and
Fredrick TöbenGerald Fredrick Töben is a German-born Australian citizen and founder and former director of the Adelaide Institute. He is the author of numerous works on education, political science and history, although he is best known for his Holocaust denial. Töben claims he cannot deny that which never...
, director of the
Adelaide InstituteEstablished in 1994, the Adelaide Institute was formed from the former Truth Mission that was established in 1994 by Dr. Gerald Fredrick Töben. The Adelaide Institute is a Holocaust denial group in Australia and is considered to be anti-Semitic by the Australian government's human rights...
, Australia.
Plastic surgery claims
In 1990
syndicatedPrint syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....
columnistA columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
Jack Anderson argued Duke has done "everything to make himself look better to the voters, including
plastic surgeryPlastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand...
".
Duke explained in
My Awakening that he had had
reconstructive surgeryReconstructive surgery is, in its broadest sense, the use of surgery to restore the form and function of the body, although Maxillo-Facial Surgeons, Plastic Surgeons and Otolaryngologists do reconstructive surgery on faces after trauma and to reconstruct the head and neck after cancer.Other...
on his nose, which had been broken many times.
Critical publications
In
Troubled Memory: Anne Levy, the Holocaust and David Duke's Louisiana by Professor Lawrence N. Powell, who teaches at
Tulane UniversityTulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
history department and was a founding member of
LouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
Coalition Against
RacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and
NazismNazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, "connects the prewar and wartime experiences of Jewish survivors to the lives they built in the United States" and depicts"story of Anne Skorecki Levy, a Holocaust survivor who transformed the horrors of her childhood into a passionate mission to defeat the political menace of reputed neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke." The book won three awards.
Tax fraud conviction
David Duke pleaded guilty to the felony charge of filing a false tax return under and mail fraud under in December 2002.
Four months later, Duke was sentenced to 15 months in prison, and he served the time in
Big Spring, TexasBig Spring is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Texas, United States, at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 87 and Interstate 20. With a population of 25,233 at the 2000 census, it is the largest city between Midland to the west, Abilene to the east, Lubbock to the north, and San Angelo...
. He was also fined US$10,000, ordered to cooperate with the
Internal Revenue ServiceThe Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
, and to pay money still owed for his 1998 taxes. Following his release in May 2004, he stated that his decision to take the plea bargain was motivated by the bias that he perceived in the
United States federal court systemThe United States federal courts make up the judiciary branch of federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government.-Categories:...
and not his guilt. He said he felt the charges were contrived to derail his political career and discredit him to his followers, and that he took the safe route by pleading guilty and receiving a mitigated sentence, rather than pleading not guilty and potentially receiving the full sentence.
Duke pleaded guilty to what prosecutors described as a six-year scheme to dupe thousands of his followers by asking for donations. Through postal mail, Duke later appealed to his supporters that he was about to lose his house and his life savings. Prosecutors claimed that Duke raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in this campaign. Prosecutors also claimed he sold his home at a hefty profit, had multiple investment accounts, and spent much of his money gambling at casinos.
The entire file of court documents related to this case can be found at
The Smoking GunThe Smoking Gun is a website that posts legal documents, arrest records, and police mugshots on a daily basis. The intent is to bring to the public light information that is damning, shocking, outrageous, or amazing, yet also somewhat obscure or unreported by more mainstream media sources...
website, including details on the December 12, 2002 guilty plea to federal charges that he filed a false tax return and committed mail fraud.
Don Black claims that Duke was targeted by the government to discredit him.
Arrest in the Czech Republic
On April 24, 2009, Duke, who had arrived in the
Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
on invitation by a Czech neo-Nazi Group known as
Národní Odpor ("National Resistance") to deliver three lectures in
PraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and
BrnoBrno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
to promote the translation of his book
My Awakening into Czech language, was arrested on suspicion of "denying or approving of the Nazi genocide and other Nazi crimes" and "promotion of movements seeking suppression of human rights," which are crimes in the Czech Republic punishable by up to three years' imprisonment. At the time of his arrest, Duke was reportedly guarded by members of the
Národní Odpor.
The Czech police accused Duke of promoting movements suppressing human rights. The police released him early on April 25, 2009, on condition that he leave the country by midnight that same day.
Duke's first lecture had been scheduled at
Charles University in PragueCharles University in Prague is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1348, it was the first university in Central Europe and is also considered the earliest German university...
, but it was canceled after university officials learned that neo-Nazis were planning to attend. Some Czech politicians, including Interior Minister
Ivan LangerMUDr. Mgr. Ivan Langer is a Czech politician, member of the Civic Democratic Party since 1991. He is a vice-chairman of the CDP. Since 2006 to 2009 he was a Ministr of the Interior and Informatics. In 2000 Langer secretly lobbyied on behalf of developer Luděk Sekyra, who tried to acquire major...
and Human Rights and Minorities Minister
Michael KocábMichael Kocáb is a Czech composer, singer and political activist.Kocáb is leader of Pražský výběr, popular music band, which was suppressed by Czechoslovak communist regime in the 1980s...
, had previously expressed opposition to Duke's being allowed into the country.
In September 2009, the office of the District Prosecutor for Prague dropped all charges, explaining that there was no evidence that David Duke had committed any crime.
Possible 2012 presidential campaign
Duke has claimed that thousands of
Tea Party movementThe Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
activists have urged him to run for president in
2012The United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United States presidential election, to be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which presidential electors, who will actually elect the President and the Vice President of the United...
and he is seriously considering entering the
Republican Party primariesThe 2012 Republican presidential primaries are the selection processes in which voters of the Republican Party will choose their nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 presidential election. The primary contest began with a fairly wide field, and is the first presidential primary...
. Duke has also released a video detailing his platform. In the video pledges that as president he would stop all immigration to the US, including legal immigration, and says that he "will not let Israel or any nation dictate our foreign policy". Duke claimed that he would be "willing to risk life and limb, endure the barbs of the media” to mount "the most honest campaign for president since the time of our Founding Fathers". However, Duke has been legally disqualified from running for public office since 2002 as part of his guilty plea for tax evasion.
Works and filmography
- David Duke's official web site
- David Duke's account at YouTube with his videos about US and world politics
- Duke, David "Jewish Supremacism http://www.davidduke.com/index.php?p=129" (Free Speech Pr, 2003; 350 pages) ISBN 1-892796-05-8
- Duke, David "My Awakening" http://www.davidduke.com/index.php?p=130 (Free Speech Books, 1998; 736 pages) ISBN 1-892796-00-7
- European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO), White Civil Rights
- "The truth about David Duke" by one of Duke's European Friends
- "The Federal Persecution of David Duke" by Duke's childhood friend Don Black
- Federal Indictment of David Duke on mail fraud and filing false tax return
- "Ex-Klan Leader Is Popular in Europe, Mideast, Even as He Heads to Jail Here" Times-Picayune, New Orleans April 13, 2003 by John McQuaid
- Attitudes of Mississippi college students toward David Duke before and after seeing the film 'Who Is David Duke?'
- David Duke in Damascus to express solidarity with Syria Arabic News, November 22, 2005
- Bridges, Tyler "The Rise of David Duke" (Mississippi University Press, 1995; 300 pages) ISBN 0-87805-678-5
- Rose; Douglas D. The Emergence of David Duke and the Politics of Race University of North Carolina Press. 1992
- Zatarain, Michael "David Duke: Evolution of a Klansman" (Pelican Publishing Company, 1990; Gretna, Louisiana; 304 pages) ISBN 0-88289-817-5
- Interviews with Dutch nationalist Alfred Vierling
Drs. Alfred Vierling is a Dutch politician, who was active in the '80s in the nationalist Centre Party for which he won 135.000 votes during the European elections in 1984 and Centre Democrats and who in the '90s co-founded the Dutch Block. In 1990 he was elected in the city council of Schiedam...
http://vimeo.com/20150126 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6053470509266077802
External links
Interviews