David Duke Calls Ilhan Omar ‘Most Important Member of the US Congress’

David Duke, ilhan-omar AP
AP Photos
Matthew Boyle
Washington, D.C.

David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and an open racist and antisemite, is publicly defending Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) in the wake of the freshman Democrat’s series of antisemitic statements that have rankled the Democrat Party nationally.

Duke tweeted his praise of Omar on Thursday, calling her the “most important member of the US Congress” now that she has stood up to Democrat Party leadership after making antisemitic statements against Israel:

 

Duke tweets a link to his website where he says he discusses why he believes Omar is the “most important member of the US Congress” now in an hour-long radio segment. But during the overtly anti-Semitic hour-long segment, he does not specifically mention Omar–he just repeatedly bashes “Zionists,” rips the United States for having “unleashed Jewish power,” attacks “Jewish influence in government” and “Jewish elite control over media.”

Particularly relating to Omar, however, on the website posting it says regarding Duke and his colleague: “In particular, they heaped praise on Ilhan Omar (D-New Somalia) for being the one person in Congress willing to notice AIPAC and the ‘dual’ loyalty of many (((members of Congresss))).”

Duke and other white supremacists use three parentheses to identify Jews on social media — an offensive practice that has led some people to add parentheses to their social media profiles in defiance or in solidarity with Duke’s targets.

Duke has been a lightning rod in American politics for years, and in recent years the media and left have gone after Republicans–particularly President Trump–for having been praised by him. During the 2016 presidential campaign, the media demanded repeatedly that Trump disavow Duke–which he did. But now Duke has endorsed Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)–a Hawaiian Democrat–in the 2020 presidential election.

This is not the first time Duke has taken up Omar’s cause either. Back in early February, when she first came under the national spotlight for anti-Semitism at the beginning of the new Congress, Duke backed her up publicly as well.

Duke’s decision to back Omar now comes in the wake of several Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and presidential candidates like Sens Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), as well as many other Democrats, refusing to demand that Omar apologize and attempting to explain away her comments as somehow not deliberately anti-Semitic.

Meanwhile, Democrats have been struggling to get a resolution condemning anti-Semitism across the finish line on the floor of the House, rescheduling votes multiple times and failing to offer a coherent narrative from their party’s fractious leadership–all while their 2020 presidential candidates spar over this very issue, and the party cannot focus on governing at the moment.

Duke is a radical racist, white supremacist, and anti-Semite who has bounced around the fringes of American politics in both major parties and in a variety of third parties for the past several decades.

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