David Duke

David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is an American white nationalist, conspiracy theorist, far-right politician, former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and a political writer. A former one-term Republican Louisiana State Representative, he was a candidate in the Democratic presidential primaries in 1988 and the Republican presidential primaries in 1992. Duke unsuccessfully ran for the Louisiana State Senate, United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, and Governor of Louisiana. Duke is a felon, pleading guilty to defrauding supporters by falsely claiming to have no money and in danger of losing his home in order to solicit emergency donations; at the time, Duke was financially secure, and used the donations for recreational gambling.

Duke describes himself as a "racial realist", asserting that "all people have a basic human right to preserve their own heritage." An advocate of antisemitic conspiracy theories, Duke speaks against what he considers to be Jewish control of the Federal Reserve, the federal government and the media. Duke supports the preservation of what he labels Western culture and traditionalist Christian "family values", Constitutionalism, abolition of the Internal Revenue Service, voluntary racial segregation, anti-Communism and white separatism, He opposes what he considers to be "promotion of homosexuality" by Jews.

The Southern Poverty Law Center describes Duke as "the most recognizable figure on the American radical right" and "a neo-Nazi". His views are characterized by conspiracy theories, racism, anti-Semitism, and Holocaust denial.

Youth and early adulthood

David Duke was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to David Duke Sr. and Alice Maxine Crick. As the son of an engineer for Shell Oil Company, Duke frequently moved with his family around the world. They lived a short time in the Netherlands, before settling in Louisiana. In the late 1960s, Duke met William Luther Pierce, the leader of the white nationalist and anti-semitic National Alliance, who would remain a lifelong influence on him. Duke joined the KKK in 1967.

Duke studied at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, and in 1970, he formed a white student group called the White Youth Alliance; it was affiliated with the National Socialist White People's Party. The same year, to protest William Kunstler's appearance at Tulane University in New Orleans, Duke appeared at a demonstration in Nazi uniform. Picketing and holding parties on the anniversary of Hitler's birth, he became notorious on the LSU campus for wearing a Nazi uniform.

Duke claimed to have spent nine months in Laos, 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 cocktail 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 enrolled at LSU in 1968 and graduated in 1974. During this time he spent what would have been his senior year organizing the National Party.

Family and personal life

While working in the White Youth Alliance, Duke met ChloÃª Hardin, who was also 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. The Dukes divorced in 1984, and Chloe moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, in order to be near her parents. There, she became involved with Duke's Klan friend, Don Black, whom she later married. Duke also developed a lifelong weakness for gambling.

As of 2009, it was confirmed that David Duke was living in Zell am See in Salzburg, Austria, 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 â€" 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 in St. Tammany Parish and is registered as a taxpayer in his city, state and on the national level. As of August 1, 2014, Duke is not listed by the Louisiana Secretary of State, Tom Schedler, as a registered voter in Louisiana.

Political activities

1972 New Orleans riot

In January 1972, Duke was arrested in New Orleans for "inciting to riot". Several racial confrontations broke out that month in the Crescent City, including one at the Robert E. Lee Monument. Addison Roswell Thompson, a perennial segregationist candidate for governor of Louisiana and mayor of New Orleans, and his 89-year-old friend and mentor, Rene LaCoste (not to be confused with the French tennis player RenÃ© Lacoste). Thompson and LaCoste dressed in Klan robes for the occasion and placed a Confederate flag at the monument. The Black Panthers began throwing bricks at the pair, but police arrived in time to prevent serious injury.

Early campaigns

Duke first ran for the Louisiana Senate as a Democrat from a Baton Rouge district in 1975. He received 11,079 votes, a third of those cast. In October 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 People (NAAWP) in an attempt to leave the baggage of the Klan behind.

1988 Democratic presidential campaign

In 1988, Duke ran initially in the Democratic presidential primaries. His campaign failed to make much of an impact, with the one notable exception of winning the little-known New Hampshire Vice-Presidential primary. Duke, having failed to gain much traction as a Democrat, then successfully sought the Presidential nomination of the Populist Party. He appeared on the ballot for President in eleven states and was a write-in candidate in some other states, some with Trenton Stokes of Arkansas for Vice President, and on other state ballots with Floyd Parker 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 Party.

In 1988, Republican State Representative Charles Cusimano of Metairie 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 Treen, a brother of former Governor David C. Treen, Delton Charles, a school board member, and Roger F. Villere, Jr., 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. Bush, former President Ronald Reagan, and other notable Republicans, as well as the Democrat Victor Bussie (president of the Louisiana AFL-CIO) and Edward J. Steimel (president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry and former director of the "good government" think tank, the Public Affairs Research Council). Duke, however, hammered Treen on a statement the latter had made indicating a willingness to entertain higher property taxes, 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 1989 until 1992.

Freshman legislator Odon BacquÃ© of Lafayette, a No Party member of the House, stood alone in 1989 when he attempted to deny seating to Duke on the grounds that the incoming representative had resided outside his district at the time of his election. When John Treen failed in a court challenge in regard to Duke's residency, Duke was seated. Lawmakers who opposed Duke said that they had to defer to his constituents who narrowly chose Duke as representative.

Duke took his seat on the same day as Jerry Luke LeBlanc of Lafayette Parish, who won another special election held on the same day as the Duke-Treen runoff to choose a successor to Kathleen Blanco, the future governor who was elected to the Louisiana Public Service Commission. Duke and LeBlanc were sworn in separately.

As a short-term legislator, Duke was, in the words of a colleague, Ron Gomez of Lafayette "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 to be 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 action... and set-aside programs. He also embraced a subject near and dear to every Jefferson Parish voter, protection of the homestead exemption."

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 Republican organization.

1990 campaign for U.S. Senate

Duke has often criticized federal policies which he believes discriminate against white people in favor of racial minorities. To that end he formed the controversial group, the "National Association for the Advancement of White People".

Though Duke had first hesitated about entering the Senate race, he made his announcement of candidacy for the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 6, 1990. As it turned out, Duke was the only Republican in competition against three Democrats including incumbent U.S. Senator J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., of Shreveport, whom Duke derided as "J. Benedict Johnston".

Former Governor David Treen, whose brother, John Treen, Duke had defeated for state representative in 1989, called Duke's senatorial platform "garbage. ... I think he is bad for our party because of his espousal of Nazism and racial superiority."

The Republican Party officially endorsed state Senator Ben Bagert of New Orleans in a state convention held on January 13, 1990, but national GOP officials in October, just days before the primary election, concluded that Bagert could not win. To avoid a runoff between Duke and Johnston, the GOP decided to surrender the primary to Johnston. Funding for Bagert's campaign was halted, and though at first under protest Bagert dropped out two days before the election. With such a late withdrawal, Bagert's name remained on the ballot, but his votes, most presumably cast as absentee ballots, were not counted. Duke received 43.51 percent (607,391 votes) of the primary vote to Johnston's 53.93 percent (752,902 votes).

Duke's views prompted some of his critics (including Republicans, such as the journalist Quin Hillyer) to form the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, which directed media attention to Duke's statements of hostility to blacks and Jews.

In a 2006 editorial, Gideon Rachman (The Economist, the Financial Times) 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 governor of Louisiana in 1991. In the primary, Duke finished second to former governor Edwin W. Edwards in votes; thus, he faced Edwards in a runoff. In the initial round, Duke received 32 percent of the vote. Incumbent Governor Buddy Roemer, who had switched from the Democratic to Republican parties during his term, came in third with 27 percent 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. During the campaign, Duke said he was the spokesman for the "white majority" and, according to the New York Times, "equated the extermination of Jews in Nazi Germany with affirmative action programs in the United States."

The Christian Coalition of America, which exerted considerable impact on the Republican State Central Committee, was led in Louisiana by its national director and vice president, Billy McCormack, then the pastor of University Worship Center in Shreveport. The coalition was accused of having failed to investigate Duke in the early part of his political resurgence. By the time of the 1991 gubernatorial election, however, its leadership had withdrawn support from Duke. Despite Duke's status as the only Republican in the runoff, sitting Republican President George H.W. Bush opposed his candidacy and denounced him as charlatan and a racist. White House Chief of Staff John Sununu stated that "The President is absolutely opposed to the kind of racist statements that have come out of David Duke now and in the past."

The Louisiana Coalition against Racism and Nazism rallied against the election of Duke as governor. Beth Rickey, a moderate member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee and a PhD student at Tulane University, 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 of his worldview: the Holocaust was a myth, Josef Mengele (the Aushwitz physician who performed experiments on Jews and selected which prisoners would die) was a medical genius, and blacks and Jews were responsible for various social ills. Rickey released transcripts of their conversations to the press. She also provided evidence establishing that Duke sold Nazi literature (including Mein Kampf) from his legislative office, and that he had gone to neo-Nazi political gatherings while he held elective office.

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's success garnered national media attention. While Duke gained the backing of the quixotic former Alexandria Mayor John K. Snyder, 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."

The runoff debate, held on November 6, 1991, received significant attention when reporter Norman Robinson questioned Duke. Robinson, who is African-American, told Duke that he was "scared" at the prospect of Duke winning the election because of his history of "diabolical, evil, vile" racist and anti-Semitic comments, some of which he read to Duke. He then pressed Duke for an apology and when Duke protested that Robinson was not being fair to him, Robinson replied that he didn't think Duke was being honest. Jason Berry of the Los Angeles Times called it "startling TV" and the "catalyst" for the "overwhelming" turnout of black voters that helped former Governor Edwin Edwards defeat Duke.

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 nomination. 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' Pickle.

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. Senate. He polled 141,489 votes (11.5%). Former Republican state representative Woody Jenkins of Baton Rouge and Democrat Mary Landrieu 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 Livingston 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 Nicholson remarked: "There is no room in the party of Lincoln for a Klansman like David Duke." Republican state representative David Vitter (now a U.S. Senator) went on to defeat Republican ex-Governor David C. Treen. Also in the race was the New Orleans Republican leader Rob Couhig.

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 Representatives, 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 Jindal received 78.40% winning the seat. Duke was the head advisor of Armstrong's campaign.

Affiliations

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 Klan organization, shortly after graduating from LSU. He became Grand Wizard of the KKKK. A follower of Duke, Thomas Robb, changed the title of Grand Wizard 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 Catholics 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 People (NAAWP), a white nationalist organization.

Ernst ZÃ¼ndel and the Zundelsite

Duke has expressed his support for Holocaust denier Ernst ZÃ¼ndel, a German who lived in Canada. Duke made a number of statements in support of ZÃ¼ndel and his Holocaust denial campaign. After the aging ZÃ¼ndel 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." Anti-Defamation League claims that MAUP is the main source of antisemitic activity and publishing in Ukraine, and its "anti-Semitic actions" were "strongly condemned" by Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk 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.

Stormfront

In 1995, Don Black and ChloÃª Hardin, Duke's ex-wife, began a small bulletin board system (BBS) called Stormfront. Today, Stormfront has become a prominent online forum for white nationalism, Neo-Nazism, hate speech and racism. Duke has an account on Stormfront which he uses to post articles from his own website, 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 Dog in 1980.

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, Louisiana. In an attempt to overcome the splintering and division that had followed the death of William Pierce 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. Signed by and sponsored by a number of white supremacist leaders and organisations, 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 Carto (whose holocaust-denying Barnes Review helped sponsor the event), Kevin Alfred Strom, and John Tyndall (signing as an individual, not on behalf of his British National Party). It was also adopted by the white supremacist Canadian Heritage Alliance.

The SPLC noted that the 'high tone' contrasted with statements at the event where the pact was signed such as Paul Fromm's calling a Muslim woman "a hag in a bag" and Sam Dickson (from the Council of Conservative Citizens, another sponsor) speaking "about the "very, very destructive" effect of opposing the Nazis in World War II â€" opposition that caused people to view Hitler's "normal, healthy racial values" as evil. They described the Protocol as a "smokescreen", saying that "most of conference participants' ire was directed at what they consider to be a worldwide Jewish conspiracy to destroy the white race through immigration and miscegenation".

Publications

Finders-Keepers

Duke wrote a self-help book for women to raise money under the pseudonym Dorothy Vanderbilt and James Konrad, titled Finders-Keepers â€" 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, fellatio, and anal sex. 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 separation. 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 League (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 Europe 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 Shahak, a critical author of what Shahak saw as supremacist religious teachings in Jewish culture. Former Boris Yeltsin 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 Ustinov, 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 Biryukov, First Deputy of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, stated that a socially-psychological examination, 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 Policy by professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, 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".

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 Duma (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, Ukrainian, Persian, Hungarian, Spanish and most recently (2010) into Finnish (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

On February 5, 2002, Duke said, on his Internet radio show, that Ariel Sharon was "the world's worst terrorist" and that Mossad was involved in the September 11 attacks. The broadcast said that Zionists were behind the attacks in order to reduce sympathy for Muslim 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 Post and "the legendary involvement of Israeli nationals in businesses at the World Trade Center". According to Duke, this indicated that Israeli security services had prior knowledge of the attack.

On February 4, 2009, Duke repeatedly called MSNBC pundit Keith Olbermann "untermensch" on his radio show in response to being labeled "Worst Person in the World" on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Public appearances

Public address in Syria

On November 24, 2005, Duke visited Damascus, Syria, addressing a rally which was broadcast on Syrian television, and later giving an interview. During the rally, he referred to Israel as a "war-mongering country" and stated that Zionists "occupy most of the American media and now control much of the American governmentâ€¦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.â€ He concluded by stating: "Your fight for freedom is the same as our fight for freedom.â€ After speaking at the rally, Duke gave an interview where he said that Israel "makes the Nazi 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, Louisianaâ€"based television show hosted and produced by Palestinian-American Hesham Tillawi, 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 Lobby 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 MSNBC's March 21 Scarborough Country 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 Neocons 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 racialists.

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 Shamir.

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 8â€"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 11â€"13, he Duke attended the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust in Tehran, Iran, 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 TÃ¶ben, director of the Adelaide Institute, Australia.

Criticism, legal difficulties, and felony conviction

Critical publications

In Troubled Memory: Anne Levy, the Holocaust and David Duke's Louisiana by Professor Lawrence N. Powell, who teaches at Tulane University history department and was a founding member of Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, depicts the "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."

Tax fraud conviction

David Duke pleaded guilty to the felony charge of filing a false tax return under 26 U.S.C.Â Â§Â 7206 and mail fraud under 18 U.S.C.Â Â§Â 1341 in December 2002.

Four months later, Duke was sentenced to 15 months in prison, and he served the time in Big Spring, Texas. He was also fined US$10,000, ordered to cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service, 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 system 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 Gun 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 and dropping of the charges

On April 24, 2009, Duke, who had arrived in the Czech Republic on invitation by a Czech neo-Nazi Group known as NÃ¡rodnÃ Odpor ("National Resistance") to deliver three lectures in Prague and Brno to promote the translation of his book My Awakening into the Czech language. He 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 NÃ¡rodnÃ 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 Prague, but it was canceled after university officials learned that neo-Nazis were planning to attend. Some Czech politicians, including Interior Minister Ivan Langer and Human Rights and Minorities Minister Michael KocÃ¡b, 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.

Expulsion from Italy, 2013

An Italian court ruled to expel Duke from Italy, reported Reuters in December 2013. The 63-year-old Duke was living in a mountain village in Italy. Although Duke had been issued a visa to live in Malta and write, Italian police later found that Switzerland had issued a residence ban against Duke throughout a group of 26 countries including Italy. Duke's attorney said he had not decided, as of December 5, 2013 whether or not to appeal the decision.

Election history

Proposed 2012 presidential campaign

Duke claimed that thousands of Tea Party movement activists had urged him to run for president in 2012 and he was seriously considering entering the Republican Party primaries. However, Duke ultimately did not contest the primaries (won by Mitt Romney) or the 2012 presidential election, which was won by Barack Obama.

Works

Duke, David "Jewish Supremacism" (Free Speech Press, 2003; 350 pages) ISBN 1-892796-05-8
Duke, David "My Awakening" (Free Speech Books, 1998; 736 pages) ISBN 1-892796-00-7

Notes

References

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 [2] [3]
"Ex-Klan Leader Is Popular in Europe, Mideast, Even as He Heads to Jail Here", The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, April 13, 2003 by John McQuaid

External links

David Duke's official web site
David Duke's Facebook
David Duke's channel on YouTube with his videos about US and world politics
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
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

Filmography

David Duke at the Internet Movie Database
David Duke speaks in his Presidential campaign in Washington 1991 on C-SPAN
David Duke speaks in his Presidential campaign in Massachusetts 1992 on C-SPAN
David Duke withdraws his Presidential campaign, April 1992
David Duke interview on "My Awakening" on C-SPAN, Mar 30, 1999
David Duke on The Outrageous Racist Hypocrisy of Israel and World Zionism! on YouTube, June 18, 2012

Interviews

The Nationalist Report: Interview with David Duke
The Sunic Journal: Interview with David Duke

Jumat, 09 Januari 2015