Considering the relatively small membership of the Ku Klux Klan in 2016 (studies say there are between 5,000 and 8,000 members in the U.S. today), the KKK has a surprising amount of political power in 2016. Their endorsement of political candidates on both sides of the aisle carries weight within public perception, and when it comes to politics, perception is reality. That’s why the seemingly non-stop endorsements of Donald Trump by past and current leaders of the KKK are so astounding. Trump has retweeted white supremacists in the past, and took an alarmingly long time disavowing his last KKK endorsement. Now this.
In a fascinating interview with Marty Jewell, the education chairman with the Richmond,Virginia NAACP, the Imperial Wizard of the Rebel Brigade Knights (who sounds like a menacing subordinate of a Sith) explained his stance and endorsement of Donald Trump.
“I think Donald Trump would be best for the job. The reason a lot of Klan members like Donald Trump is because a lot of what he believes in, we believe in. We want our country to be safe.”
Safe, you would think, from groups that are domestic terrorists.
But the big takeaway from this interview is that even the KKK doesn’t like Ted Cruz, who is possibly the most disliked candidate in the history of candidates. When you’re a white male Christian, and the KKK still can’t get behind you, there’s probably something going on:
“If Donald Trump dropped out tomorrow I would support Kasich before I would Ted Cruz because he is not an American citizen. Even if I agree with some of the things that Ted Cruz says, I would not support him because he was born in Canada. He is not an American citizen.”
There’s just something about Cruz that people will always find fault with. For the KKK, it’s his Canadian background.
(Via NBC 12)