David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is an American

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of bein ...

politician, convicted

felon A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

, and former

Grand Wizard The Grand Wizard (later the Grand and Imperial Wizard simplified as the Imperial Wizard and eventually, the National Director) referred to the national leader of several different Ku Klux Klan organizations in the United States and abroad. The ti ...

of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. From 1989 to 1992, he was a member of the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 re ...

for the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

. His politics and writings are largely devoted to promoting conspiracy theories about Jews, such as

Holocaust denial Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...

and Jewish control of academia, the press, and the financial system. The

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

described Duke in 2013 as promoting white supremacist views and "perhaps America’s most well-known racist and anti-Semite". Duke unsuccessfully stood as Democratic candidate for state legislature during the 1970s and 1980s, culminating in his campaign for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. After failing to gain any traction within the Democratic Party, Duke left and successfully gained the presidential nomination of the minor Populist Party. In December 1988, he became a Republican and claimed to have become a born-again Christian, while nominally renouncing

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

. He soon won his only elected office, a seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives. He then ran unsuccessful but competitive campaigns for several more offices, including United States Senate in 1990 and Governor of Louisiana in 1991. His campaigns were denounced by national and state Republican leaders, including President George H. W. Bush. He mounted a minor challenge to President Bush in 1992. By the late 1990s, Duke had abandoned his pretense of rejecting racism and antisemitism, and began to openly promote racist and

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack r ...

viewpoints. He then began to devote himself to writing about his political views, both in newsletters and later on the Internet. In his writings, he denigrates African Americans and other ethnic minorities, and promotes conspiracy theories about a Jewish plot to control America and the world. He continued to run for public office through 2016; however, following his reversion to open neo-Nazism, his candidacies were not competitive. During the 1990s, Duke defrauded his political supporters by pretending to be in dire financial straits and soliciting money for basic necessities. At the time, Duke was in fact financially secure and used the money for recreational

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

. In December 2002, Duke pleaded guilty to felony fraud and subsequently served a 15-month sentence at Federal Correctional Institution, Big Spring in Texas.

Early life

Duke was born in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, to Maxine (née Crick) and David Hedger Duke, the younger of two children. As the son of an engineer for

Shell Oil Company Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States-based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation "oil major" which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,000 ...

, Duke frequently moved with his family around the world. During 1954, they lived a short time in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

before settling in an all-white area of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

, in 1955. His mother was an

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

; his father permanently left in 1966 for Laos taking a job with

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible f ...

(USAID). While in New Orleans, Duke attended the Clifton L. Ganus School, a staunchly conservative church of Christ sponsored school. He attributed the start of his segregationist awakening as being started during his research for an eighth-grade project at this school. After his Freshman year, Duke transferred to Warren Easton senior high in New Orleans. For his junior year, he attended Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Georgia. His senior year, he was back in New Orleans, at integrated John F. Kennedy High School, and by the time he graduated was already a member of the Klan. In 1964, Duke began his involvement in radical right politics after attending a

Citizens' Councils The Citizens' Councils (commonly referred to as the White Citizens' Councils) were an associated network of White supremacy, white supremacist, Racial segregation in the United States, segregationist organizations in the United States, concentra ...

meeting and reading Carleton Putnam's pro- segregation books, later citing ''Race and Reason: A Yankee View'', 1961, as being responsible for his "enlightenment". Putnam's book asserted the genetic superiority of whites. Also during his adolescence, Duke began to read books about

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

and the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, and his speeches at CCA meetings began to be more explicitly pro-Nazi. This was enough to gain him disapproval from some members who were more anti-black racists rather than

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Ant ...

. While attending Riverside Military Academy, his class was disciplined after Duke was found to be in possession of a Nazi flag and, in public school, he vociferously protested the lowering of the flag after the

assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr., an African-American clergyman and civil rights leader, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died at 7 ...

In the late 1960s, Duke met William Luther Pierce, the leader of the

and white nationalist National Alliance, who would remain a lifelong influence on him. Duke joined the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Ca ...

(KKK) in 1967. In 1968, Duke enrolled at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

(LSU) in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of countie ...

. In 1970, he formed a

white White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

student group called the White Youth Alliance that was affiliated with the National Socialist White People's Party. He appeared at a demonstration in Nazi uniform carrying a sign reading "Gas the Chicago 7" (a group of left-wing anti-war activists Kunstler had defended) and "Kunstler is a Communist Jew" to protest lawyer

William Kunstler William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Civil ...

's appearance at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pu ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Picketing and holding parties on the anniversary of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's birth, he became known on the LSU campus for wearing a Nazi uniform. While a student at LSU, Duke traveled on a

road trip A road trip, sometimes spelled roadtrip, is a long-distance journey on the road. Typically, road trips are long distances travelled by automobile. History First road trips by automobile The world's first recorded long-distance road trip by ...

to an

American Nazi Party The American Nazi Party (ANP) is an American far-right and neo-Nazi political party founded by George Lincoln Rockwell and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The organization was originally named the World Union of Free Enterprise Nationa ...

conference in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

with white supremacists

Joseph Paul Franklin Joseph Paul Franklin (born James Clayton Vaughn Jr.; April 13, 1950 – November 20, 2013) was an American white supremacist and serial killer who engaged in a murder spree spanning the late 1970s and early 1980s. Franklin was convicted of seve ...

(later convicted of multiple acts of racial and antisemitic

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

and executed for serial murder) and Don Black. Duke says that he spent nine months in Laos, calling it a "normal tour of duty". He joined his father, who remained working there, and had asked his son to visit during the summer of 1971. His father helped him gain a job teaching English to Laotian military officers, from which he was dismissed after six weeks when he drew a

Molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with fl ...

on the blackboard. He also claimed to have gone behind enemy lines 20 times at night to drop rice to anti-communist insurgents in planes flying off the ground, narrowly avoiding receiving a shrapnel wound. Two Air America pilots who were in Laos at that time said that the planes only flew during the day and that they also flew no less than from the ground. One pilot 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 that he had used.

1972 arrest in New Orleans

In January 1972, Duke was arrested in New Orleans for

inciting a riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targeted ...

. Several racial confrontations broke out that month in the city, including one at the Robert E. Lee Monument involving Duke, Addison Roswell Thompson—a perennial

segregationist Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Interna ...

candidate for governor of Louisiana and

mayor of New Orleans The post of Mayor of the City of New Orleans (french: Maire de La Nouvelle-Orléans) has been held by the following individuals since New Orleans came under American administration following the Louisiana Purchase — the acquisition by the U.S. ...

—and his 89-year-old friend and mentor, Rene LaCoste. Thompson and LaCoste dressed in Klan robes for the occasion and placed a

Confederate flag The flags of the Confederate States of America have a history of three successive designs during the American Civil War. The flags were known as the "Stars and Bars", used from 1861 to 1863; the "Stainless Banner", used from 1863 to 1865; and ...

at the monument. The

Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Calif ...

began throwing bricks at the two men, but police arrived in time to prevent serious injury. In 1972, Duke was charged with soliciting campaign funds for presidential candidate

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist an ...

and then keeping the proceeds. He was also charged with filling glass containers with a flammable liquid, banned under a New Orleans ordinance. Both charges were eventually dropped.

Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

In 1974, Duke founded the Louisiana-based Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (KKKK), shortly after graduating from LSU. He became the youngest ever grand wizard of the KKKK in 1976. 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 The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

were encouraged to apply for membership. Duke would repeatedly insist that the Klan was "not anti-black" but rather "pro-white" and "pro-Christian". Duke told the British '' Daily Telegraph'' newspaper that he left the Klan in 1980 because he disliked its associations with violence and could not stop the members of other Klan chapters from doing "stupid or violent things". It was asserted by Julia Reed in ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

'' in April 1992 that Duke was forced to leave the Klan after selling a copy of its membership records to a rival Klan leader who was a

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI) informer.

Political and ideological activities

Early campaigns

Duke first ran for a seat in the

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate is composed ...

as a Democrat from a

district in 1975. During his campaign, he was allowed to speak on the college campuses of

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

, the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

, Stanford University, and

. He received 11,079 votes, one-third of those cast. Duke ran for a seat in the state senate again in 1979, but placed second to incumbent Senator Joe Tiemann. In the late 1970s, Duke was accused by several Klan officials of stealing the organization's money. "Duke is nothing but a con artist", Jack Gregory, Duke's Florida state leader, told the ''Clearwater Sun'' after 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. He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination during the 1980 presidential election. Despite being six years too young to be qualified to run for president Duke attempted to place his name onto the ballot in twelve states stating that he wanted to be a power broker who could "select issues and form a platform representing the majority of this country" at the Democratic National Convention. He pled guilty in 1979, to disturbing the peace when he led seventy to one hundred Klansmen to surround police vehicles in a Metairie hotel parking lot in September 1976, and was fined $100 and given a three-month suspended sentence. Duke and James K. Warner had originally been convicted on that charge in 1977, but the Louisiana Supreme Court had reversed the ruling due to the state having introduced illegal evidence. Duke was arrested for illegally entering Canada in order to discuss third-world immigration into Canada on a talk show. He left the Ku Klux Klan in 1980, after he was accused of trying to sell the organization's mailing list for $35,000. He founded the National Association for the Advancement of White People and served as its president after leaving the Klan. Using the group's newsletter, he promoted

literature for sale such as '' The Hoax of the Twentieth Century'' and '' Did Six Million Really Die?''. Duke allegedly conducted a direct-mail appeal in 1987, using the identity and mailing-list of the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

Forsyth County Defense League without permission. League officials described it as a fundraising scam.

1988 presidential campaign

In 1988, Duke ran initially in the Democratic presidential primaries. His campaign had limited impact, with one minor exception — as the only candidate on the ballot, he won the little-known New Hampshire vice presidential primary. Duke, having failed to gain much traction as a Democrat, then sought and gained the

presidential President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

nomination of the Populist Party, an organization founded by Willis Carto. He appeared on the ballot for president in 11 states and was a write-in candidate in some other states, some with Trenton Stokes of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...

for vice president, and on other state ballots with Floyd Parker, a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

from

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

, for vice president. He received just 47,047 votes, for 0.04% of the 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

. In 1988, Republican state representative Charles Cusimano of Metairie resigned his District 81 seat to become a 24th Judicial District Court judge, and a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

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 A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

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. Treen's candidacy was endorsed by U.S. president George H. W. Bush, former president Ronald Reagan, and other prominent Republicans, as well as Democrats Victor Bussie (president of the Louisiana

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

) and Edward J. Steimel (president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry and former director of the "good government"

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental ...

, the Public Affairs Research Council). Duke, however, criticized Treen on a statement the latter had made indicating a willingness to entertain higher

property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inher ...

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 1989 until 1992. Freshman legislator Odon Bacqué 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 Treen failed in a court challenge in regard to Duke's residency, the latter was seated. Lawmakers who opposed Duke said that they had to defer to his constituents, who narrowly chose him as representative.

As state representative

Duke took his seat on the same day as Jerry Luke LeBlanc of

Lafayette Parish Lafayette Parish (french: Paroisse de Lafayette) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the parish had a population of 241,753, up from 221,578 at the 2010 United States census. The parish seat ...

(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 The Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) is an independent regulatory agency which manages public utilities and motor carriers in Louisiana. The commission has five elected members chosen in single-member districts for staggered six-year te ...

. Duke and LeBlanc were sworn in separately. Colleague Ron Gomez of Lafayette stated that Duke, as a short-term legislator, was "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 Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

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, in his 2000 autobiography, 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. Duke launched unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate in 1990 and governor in 1991.

1990 campaign for U.S. Senate

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. Duke was the only Republican in competition against three Democrats, including incumbent U.S. senator

J. Bennett Johnston, Jr. John Bennett Johnston Jr. (born June 10, 1932) is a retired American attorney, politician, and later lobbyist. A member of the Democratic Party, Johnston represented Louisiana in the U.S. Senate from 1972 to 1997. Beginning his political caree ...

, of

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

, 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

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

sm and racial superiority." The Republican Party officially endorsed state senator Ben Bagert of New Orleans in a state convention 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 after initial 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 of which were 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 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 Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

. In a 2006 ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikke ...

'' editorial, Gideon Rachman recalled interviewing Duke's 1990 campaign manager, 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 Edwin Washington Edwards (August 7, 1927 – July 12, 2021) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the U.S. representative for from 1965 to 1972 and as the 50th governor of Louisiana for four terms (1972– ...

in votes; thus, he faced Edwards in a runoff. In the initial round, Duke received 32% of the vote. Incumbent governor

Buddy Roemer Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III (October 4, 1943 – May 17, 2021) was an American politician, investor, and banker who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana from 1988 to 1992, and as a member of the United States House of Representatives f ...

, 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 reelection. Although 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. In response to criticism for his past white supremacist activities, Duke's stock response was to apologize for his past and declare that he was a born-again Christian. During the campaign, Duke said he was the spokesman for the "white majority" and, according to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', "equated the extermination of Jews in Nazi Germany with affirmative action programs in the United States".Suro, Roberto (November 7, 1991)
"THE 1991 ELECTION: Louisiana; Bush Denounces Duke As Racist and Charlatan."
''The New York Times'' The

Christian Coalition of America The Christian Coalition of America (CCA), a 501(c)(4) organization, is the successor to the original Christian Coalition created in 1987 by religious broadcaster and former presidential candidate Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson. This US Christian ...

, 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

. 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, incumbent president George H. W. Bush (a Republican) opposed his candidacy and denounced him as a charlatan and a racist. White House chief of staff John H. Sununu stated, "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 Duke's gubernatorial campaign.

Elizabeth Rickey Elizabeth "Beth" Rickey (June 11, 1956 – September 12, 2009) was an American activist and leader in the anti-racism and anti-discrimination movement. Her efforts specifically focused on exposing former neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan leader David Duk ...

, a moderate member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee and niece of

Branch Rickey Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an American baseball player and sports executive. Rickey was instrumental in breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing black player Jackie Robinson. He also creat ...

, 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 beliefs, including that the Holocaust was a myth, Auschwitz physician

Josef Mengele , allegiance = , branch = Schutzstaffel , serviceyears = 1938–1945 , rank = '' SS''-''Hauptsturmführer'' (Captain) , servicenumber = , battles = , unit = , awards = , commands = , s ...

was a medical genius, and that blacks and Jews were responsible for various social ills. Rickey released transcripts of their conversations to the press and also provided evidence establishing that Duke sold Nazi literature (such as ''

Mein Kampf (; ''My Struggle'' or ''My Battle'') is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for G ...

'') from his legislative office and attended 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),

organizations from around the country contributed to Duke's campaign fund. Duke's rise garnered national media attention. While he gained the backing of former

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandr ...

mayor John K. Snyder, Duke won few serious endorsements in Louisiana. Celebrities and organizations donated thousands of dollars to former Governor

Edwin Edwards Edwin Washington Edwards (August 7, 1927 – July 12, 2021) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the U.S. representative for from 1965 to 1972 and as the 50th governor of Louisiana for four terms (1972� ...

' 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 journalist 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 antisemitic 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 did not think Duke was being honest. Jason Berry of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' called it "startling TV" and the "catalyst" for the "overwhelming" turnout of black voters who helped Edwards defeat Duke. Edwards received 1,057,031 votes (61.2%), while Duke's 671,009 votes represented 38.8% of the total. Duke nevertheless claimed victory, saying, "I won my constituency. I won 55% of the white vote", a statistic confirmed by exit polls. Duke, rather than Edwards, was on network television the following day; his rival refused to appear with him.

1992 Republican Party presidential candidate

Duke ran as a Republican in the 1992 presidential primaries, although Republican Party officials tried to block his participation. He received 119,115 (0.94%) votes in the primaries, but no delegates to the

1992 Republican National Convention The 1992 Republican National Convention was held in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, from August 17 to August 20, 1992. The convention nominated President George H. W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle for reelection. It was Bush's fourth c ...

. A documentary film, ''Backlash: Race and the American Dream'' (1992), investigated Duke's appeal among some white voters. ''Backlash'' 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 Wallace, and the use in the successful 1988 presidential campaign of George H. W. Bush of these same racially themed hot buttons.

1996 campaign for U.S. Senate

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 Mary Loretta Landrieu ( ; born November 23, 1955) is an American entrepreneur and politician who served as a United States senator from Louisiana from 1997 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Landrieu served as the Louisiana State Treasur ...

of New Orleans, the former state treasurer, went into the general election contest. Duke was fourth in the nine-person, jungle primary race.

1999 campaign for U.S. House

A special election was held in Louisiana's First Congressional District following the sudden resignation of Republican incumbent

Bob Livingston Robert Linlithgow Livingston Jr. (born April 30, 1943) is an American lobbyist and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Louisiana from 1977 to 1999. A Republican, he was chosen as Newt Gingrich's successor as Speaker of the U.S. ...

in 1999. 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 David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and politician who served as United States Senator for Louisiana from 2005 to 2017. A Republican, Vitter served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999. ...

(later a U.S. senator) went on to defeat former governor Treen. Also in the race was the New Orleans Republican leader Rob Couhig.

New Orleans Protocol

Duke organized a weekend gathering of "European Nationalists" in

Kenner, Louisiana Kenner (historically french: Cannes-Brûlées) is a city in Louisiana, United States. It is the largest city in Jefferson Parish, and is the largest incorporated suburban city of New Orleans. The population was 66,448 at the 2020 census. Histor ...

. In an attempt to overcome the splintering and division in the white nationalist movement that had followed the death in 2002 of leader William Luther Pierce, Duke presented a unity proposal for peace within the movement and a better image for 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 organizations, 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, Don Black, Paul Fromm, Willis Carto (whose Holocaust-denying ''

The Barnes Review ''The Barnes Review'' (TBR) is a bi-monthly magazine founded in 1994 by Willis Carto's Liberty Lobby and headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes ''The Barnes Review'' as "one of the most virulent anti-Semitic ...

'' helped sponsor the event), Kevin Alfred Strom, and

John Tyndall John Tyndall Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (; 2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was a prominent 19th-century Irish physicist. His scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of ...

(signing as an individual, not on behalf of the

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK go ...

). The

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...

(SPLC) said that the "high tone" of the NOP 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 The Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC or CCC) is an American white supremacist organization. Founded in 1985, it advocates white nationalism, and supports some paleoconservative causes. In the organization's statement of principles, it st ...

, another sponsor) speaking about the "very, very destructive" effect of opposing the Nazis in World War II—opposition that caused people to view Hitler's "normal, healthy racial values" as evil. The SPLC described the NOP as a "smokescreen", saying that "most of the conference participants' ire was directed at what they consider to be a worldwide Jewish conspiracy to destroy the white race through

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

and

miscegenation Miscegenation ( ) is the interbreeding of people who are considered to be members of different Race (human categorization), races. The word, now usually considered pejorative, is derived from a combination of the Latin terms ''miscere'' ("to m ...

Political activity (1999–2012)

Duke joined the

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

Party in 1999. Duke would leave the party after the election. In 2004, Duke's bodyguard, roommate, and longtime associate Roy Armstrong made a bid for the U.S. 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 Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (born June 10, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of Louisiana from 2008 to 2016. The only living former Louisiana governor, Jindal also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives ...

received 78.40%, thus winning the seat. Duke was the head advisor of Armstrong's campaign. Duke claimed that thousands of

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defic ...

activists had urged him to run for president in 2012, and that he was seriously considering entering the Republican Party primaries. However, Duke ultimately did not contest the primaries won by

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusett ...

, who lost the presidential election to incumbent

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

Donald Trump advocacy

In 2015, it was reported by the media that Duke endorsed then presidential nominee

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

. Duke later clarified in an interview with ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'' in August 2015 that while he viewed Trump as "the best of the lot", due to his stance on immigration, Trump's support for Israel was a deal breaker for him. Duke claimed that "Trump has made it very clear that he's 1,000 percent dedicated to Israel, so how much is left over for America?" In December 2015, Duke said Donald Trump speaks more radically than he does, advising that Trump's radical speech is both a positive and a negative. In February 2016, Duke urged his listeners to vote Trump, saying that voting for anyone besides Donald Trump "is really treason to your heritage". Trump, Duke believed, was "by far the best candidate". When asked whether he renounced Duke's support, Trump responded "I don’t know anything about David Duke. Okay?...I know nothing about white supremacists. And so you’re asking me a question that I’m supposed to be talking about people that I know nothing about." For the 2020 presidential election, Duke again expressed his preference for Donald Trump over Joe Biden, which was widely interpreted as an endorsement. Duke urged President Trump to replace his vice president

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, ...

with talk show host

Tucker Carlson Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an American television host, Conservatism in the United States, conservative Pundit, political commentator and writer who has hosted the nightly political talk show ''Tucker Carlson Tonight ...

claiming such a ticket was the only way to "stop the commie Bolsheviks".

2016 campaign for U.S. Senate

On July 22, 2016, Duke announced that he was planning to run for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate seat in Louisiana being vacated by Republican

. He stated that he was running "to defend the rights of European Americans". He claimed that his platform has become the Republican mainstream and added, "I'm overjoyed to see Donald Trump and most Americans embrace most of the issues that I've championed for years." However, Trump's campaign reaffirmed that Trump disavows Duke's support, and Republican organizations said they will not support him "under any circumstances". On August 5, 2016, National Public Radio ( NPR) aired an interview between Duke and Steve Inskeep in which Duke claimed that there was widespread racism against European Americans, that they have been subject to vicious attacks in the media, and that Trump's voters were also his voters. David Duke 2020

A Mason-Dixon poll released on October 20, 2016, showed Duke receiving support from 5.1% of voters in the state, barely clearing the 5% requirement for a candidate to be allowed to participate in a November 2 debate. Duke received 3% of the vote on Election Day, with a total of 58,581 votes out of nearly 2 million cast. He came in 7th place in Louisiana's

open primary Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

. Those who made donations to the campaign were publicly outed in several states in 2017, leading to boycotts, lost business, and one restaurant to close entirely.

2020 United States presidential election endorsement

In February 2019, the media reported Duke had endorsed presidential candidate

Tulsi Gabbard Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician, United States Army Reserve officer and political commentator who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. Gabbard was the fi ...

for the Democratic ticket and changed his

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

banner to a picture of Gabbard. He tweeted "Tulsi Gabbard for President. Finally a candidate who will actually put America First rather than Israel First!" Gabbard refused Duke's support: "I have strongly denounced David Duke's hateful views and his so-called 'support' multiple times in the past, and reject his support." Following Gabbard's defeat, Duke endorsed president

for re-election.

Antisemitism

Racial theories

In 1998, Duke self-published the autobiographical '' My Awakening: A Path to Racial Understanding''. The book details Duke's social philosophies, including his advocacy of

racial separation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Intern ...

We hitesdesire 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.

A book review by Abraham Foxman, then the National Director of the

(ADL), describes ''My Awakening'' as containing racist, antisemitic, sexist, and homophobic opinions. Duke promotes the

white genocide conspiracy theory The white genocide, white extinction, or white replacement conspiracy theory is a White supremacy, white supremacist conspiracy theory which states that there is a deliberate plot, often Antisemitic canard, blamed on Jews, to promote miscegenat ...

and explicitly claims that Jews are "organising white genocide". In 2017 he accused Anthony Bourdain of promoting white genocide. An ADL profile of Duke states: "Although Duke denies that he is a white supremacist and avoids the term in public speeches and writings, the policies and positions he advocates state clearly that white people are the only ones morally qualified to determine the rights that should apply to other ethnic groups."

Claims of "Jewish supremacy"

In 2001, Duke promoted his book, ''Jewish Supremacism: My Awakening to the Jewish Question'' in Russia. In this work, he 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 Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...

press minister Boris Mironov wrote an introduction for the Russian edition, printed under the title ''The Jewish Question Through the Eyes of an American''. The work draws on the writings of Kevin B. MacDonald, including multiple uses of the same sources and citations. The Anti-Defamation League office in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

urged the Moscow prosecutor to open an investigation into Mironov. The ADL office initiated a letter from Alexander Fedulov, a prominent member of the

Duma A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were f ...

, to Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov, urging a criminal case be opened against the author and the Russian publisher of Duke's book. In his letter, Fedulov described the book as antisemitic and a violation of Russian anti-hate crime laws. Around December 2001, the prosecutor's office closed the investigation of Boris Mironov and ''Jewish Supremacism''. In a public letter,

Yury Biryukov Yury Stanislavovich Biryukov (in , b. March 7, 1948, in Lviv, Ukraine, Soviet Union) 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 representat ...

, First Deputy of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, stated that a 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. The ADL has described the book as antisemitic. At one time, the book was sold in the main lobby of the building of the Russian State

(lower house of parliament). After the publication in March 2006 of a paper on the Israel lobby by professors John Mearsheimer and

Stephen Walt Stephen Martin Walt (born July 2, 1955) is the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International relations at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University and a political scientist. A member of the realist school of international relations ...

, Duke praised the paper in a number of articles on his website, in his broadcasts, and on

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politic ...

's March 21 ''

Scarborough Country ''Scarborough Country'' is an opinion/analysis show broadcast on MSNBC Monday to Thursday at 9 P.M. ET. It was hosted by former congressman Joe Scarborough. ''Scarborough Country'' made its debut in April 2003. On average, ''Scarborough Countr ...

'' program. According to ''

The New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New York ...

'', Duke said in an email, he was "surprised how excellent he paperis. 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

n Iraq N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

even started. ...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." Stephen 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". In 2015, after 47 Senate Republicans warned Iran that agreements made with the US that were not ratified by the Senate were liable to be repudiated by a future President, Duke told Fox News' Alan Colmes that the signatories "should become a Jew, put on a yarmulke because they are not Americans, they have sold their soul to the Jewish power in this country and the Jewish power overseas". His website has hosted articles by authors claiming that Jewish loan-sharks own the

Federal Reserve Bank A Federal Reserve Bank is a regional bank of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. There are twelve in total, one for each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts that were created by the Federal Reserve A ...

, and that Jews own Hollywood and the U.S. media.

Supposed "Zionist control"

In the post- 9/11 issue of his newsletter, Duke wrote that "reason should tell us that even if Israeli agents were not the actual provocateurs behind the operation n 9/11 at the very least they had prior knowledge. ...Zionists caused the attack America endured just as surely as if they themselves had piloted those planes. It was caused by the Jewish control of the American media and Congress." In an interview for the Iranian Press TV on September 11, 2012, Duke said: "There are Israeli fingerprints all over the whole 9/11 aspect. ...Israel has a long record of terrorism against America... there are a lot of reasons that Israel wanted 9/11 to happen. Of the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

, according to Duke, "The Zionists orchestrated and created this war in the media, the government, and international finance." In another appearance on Press TV the following year, Duke said Congress "is totally in the hands of the Zionists. The Zionists control the American government, lock, stock, and barrel." According to him, the supposed control of America by Jews is "the world’s greatest single problem".

Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel

Duke expressed support for

Holocaust denier Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...

Ernst Zündel Ernst Christof Friedrich Zündel (; 24 April 1939 – 5 August 2017) was a German neo-Nazi publisher and pamphleteer of Holocaust denial literature.

, a German emigrant in Canada. Duke made a number of statements supporting Zündel and his campaign of Holocaust denial. Zündel was deported from Canada to Germany and imprisoned in Germany on charges of inciting the masses to ethnic hatred. After Zündel died in August 2017, Duke referred to him as being a "very heroic and courageous European preservationist".

Activities in Ukraine and Russia (2005–2006)

In the 1990s, Duke traveled to Russia several times, meeting antisemitic Russian politicians such as

Vladimir Zhirinovsky Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky, ''né'' Eidelshtein (russian: link=false, Эйдельштейн) (25 April 1946 – 6 April 2022) was a Russian right-wing populist politician and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) f ...

and Albert Makashov. In September 2005, Duke received a non-accredited "

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in history" from the Ukrainian private university Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (MAUP), an institution described by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as a "University of Hate". Duke's doctoral thesis was titled "Zionism as a Form of Ethnic Supremacism". However, the PhD program of MAUP was not accredited by the

Higher Attestation Commission Higher Attestation Commission (russian: Высшая аттестационная комиссия, uk, Вища атестаційна комісія, abbreviated Cyrillic: ВАК, Latin: VAK) is a name of a national government agency in Russia, ...

of Ukraine and is not accredited by that state body's successor, the

Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine ( uk, Міністерство освіти і науки України) is the main body in the system of central bodies of the executive power of Ukraine. History On 28 June 1917 Ivan Steshe ...

, so the PhD diplomas issued by MAUP are not recognized by the Ukrainian state as real academic degrees. The ADL has said that MAUP is the main source of

activity and publishing in Ukraine, and its "anti-Semitic actions" were "strongly condemned" by Foreign Minister

Borys Tarasyuk Borys Ivanovych Tarasyuk ( uk, Борис Іванович Тарасюк; born 1 January 1949) is a Ukrainian politician who twice served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and a former MP who is since December 2019 Ukraine's perma ...

and various organizations. Duke has taught a course on international relations and a history course at MAUP. 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 Ukrainian public figures and politicians, plus

Israel Shamir Israel Shamir (Russian: Исраэль Шамир, ; born 1947 or 1948), also known by the names Robert David, Vassili Krasevsky, Jöran Jermas and Adam Ermash, is a Swedish writer and journalist, known for promoting antisemitism The book was rep ...

described by the ADL as "an anti-Semitic writer". 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 Tulayev.

Iranian Holocaust conference

From December 11–13, 2006, at the invitation of then Iranian president

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

, Duke took part in the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust, an event held in Tehran questioning the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. "The Zionists have used the Holocaust as a weapon to deny the rights of the Palestinians and cover up the crimes of Israel", Duke told a gathering of nearly 70 participants. "This conference has an incredible impact on Holocaust studies all over the world", said Duke. According to Duke: "The Holocaust is the device used as the pillar of Zionist imperialism, Zionist aggression, Zionist terror and Zionist murder."

Other affiliations and associations

''Stormfront''

In 1995, Don Black and Chloê Hardin, Duke's ex-wife, began a

bulletin board system A bulletin board system (BBS), also called computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such ...

(BBS) called '' Stormfront''. The website has become a prominent online forum for

white nationalism White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a Race (human categorization), raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbar ...

, white separatism, Holocaust denial, neo-Nazism, hate speech and

. Bill O'Reilly
"Circling the Wagons in Georgia"
, ''

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...

'', May 8, 2003 Duke is an active user of ''Stormfront'', where he posts articles from his own website and polls forum members for opinions and questions. Duke has worked with Don Black on numerous occasions, including on Operation Red Dog (the attempted overthrowing of Dominica's government) in 1980. Duke continued to be involved with the website's radio station in 2019.

British National Party

In 2000, Nick Griffin (then leader of the

in the United Kingdom) met with Duke at a seminar with the

American Friends of the British National Party American Friends of the British National Party (sometimes abbreviated as AFBNP) was a political activist group founded by British far-right expatriate Mark Cotterill in January 1999 that facilitated financial assistance for the British National P ...

. Griffin said: This was widely reported in the media of the United Kingdom, as well as the meeting between Duke and Griffin, following electoral successes made by the party in 2009.

Alt-right

Duke has written in praise of the

alt-right The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...

, describing one broadcast as "fun and interesting" and another as "this great show". People for the American Way reported Duke championing the alt-right. Duke described them as "our people" when describing their role in

's election as president. There are also claims that while he is not an active member of the alt-right, he is an inspiration for the movement. The ''

International Business Times The ''International Business Times'' is an American online news publication that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called ''IBTimes'' or ''IBT'', offers news, opinion and editorial commentary on busi ...

'' described Duke as having "' Zieg-heiling acolytes in the so-called 'alt-right'". ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ...

'' has said that Duke "paved the way" for the alt-right movement.

Legal difficulties and felony conviction

Tax fraud conviction and defrauding followers

On December 12, 2002, David Duke pleaded guilty to the felony charge of filing a false tax return under and

mail fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activit ...

under David Duke pleads to mail fraud, tax charges
USA Today. December 18, 2002. Retrieved July 18, 2015. According to ''The New York Times'': "Mr. Duke was accused of telling supporters that he was in financial straits, then misusing the money they sent him from 1993 to 1999. He was also accused of filing a false 1998 tax return... Mr. Duke used the money for personal investments and gambling trips... e upportercontributions were as small as $5 and ccording to the United States attorney, Jim Lettenthere were so many that returning the money would be 'unwieldy.'" Four months later, Duke was sentenced to 15 months in prison, and he served the time in

Big Spring, Texas Big 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 27,282 as of the 2010 census, it is the largest city between Midland to the west, ...

. He was also fined US$10,000 and ordered to cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 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. The mail fraud charges stemmed from what prosecutors described as a six-year scheme to dupe thousands of his followers by asking for donations. Using the postal service, Duke appealed to his supporters for funds by fraudulently stating he was about to lose his house and his life savings. Prosecutors alleged that Duke raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in this scheme. Prosecutors also stipulated that in contrast to what he stated in the mailings, he sold his home at a hefty profit, had multiple investment accounts, and spent much of his money gambling at casinos. The Smoking Gun posted the entire file of court documents related to this case at its website, including details on Duke's guilty pleas.

2009 arrest in the Czech Republic

In April 2009, Duke traveled to the Czech Republic on invitation by a Czech

group known as ''Národní Odpor'' ("National Resistance") to deliver three lectures in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

and Brno to promote the Czech translation of his book ''My Awakening''.Edelweiß für den Grand Wizard
, Jungle World, Nr. 22, 28. May 2009 He was arrested on April 23 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''.Czech police arrest former Ku Klux Klan leader Duke
, ČTK, April 24, 2009. The police released him early on April 25 on condition that he leave the country by midnight that same day. Duke's first lecture had been scheduled at

Charles University in Prague ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

, 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 Kocáb Michael Kocáb (born 28 July 1954) is a Czech composer, singer, and political activist. He is the leader of Pražský výběr, a popular music band suppressed by the Czechoslovak communist regime in the 1980s. At the spring 1989 Kocab with Mic ...

, had previously expressed opposition to Duke's being allowed entrance into the Czech Republic. In September 2009, the office of the District Prosecutor for Prague dropped all charges, explaining that there was no evidence that Duke had committed any crime.

2013 expulsion from Italy; Schengen Area ban

In 2013, an Italian court ruled in favor of expelling Duke from Italy. Duke, then 63, was living in the mountain village Valle di Cadore in northern Italy. Although Duke had been issued a visa to live there by the Italian embassy in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, Italian police later found that Switzerland had issued a residence ban against Duke that applied throughout Europe's

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and ...

Other publications

To raise money in 1976, Duke (using the double pseudonym James Konrad and Dorothy Vanderbilt) wrote a

self-help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...

book for women, ''Finders-Keepers: Finding and Keeping the Man You Want''. The book contains sexual, diet, fashion, cosmetic and relationship advice, and was published by Arlington Place Books, an offshoot of the National Socialist White People's Party.

history professor Lawrence N. Powell, who read a rare copy of the book given to him by journalist Patsy Sims, wrote that it includes advice on vaginal exercises, oral and

anal sex Anal sex or anal intercourse is generally the insertion and thrusting of the erect penis into a person's anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.Sepages 270–271for anal sex information, anpage 118for information about the clitoris. O ...

and advocated adultery. The puritan-inclined Klan was shocked by Duke's writing. According to journalist Tyler Bridges, ''

The Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of th ...

'' obtained a copy and traced its provenance to Duke, who compiled the content from women's self-help magazines. Duke has admitted using the pseudonym Konrad. He also wrote ''African Atto'' under the pseudonym Mohammed X in 1970s, a martial arts guide for black militants; he claimed it was a means of developing a mailing list to keep watch over such activists.

Personal life

While working in the White Youth Alliance, Duke met Chloê Eleanor 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,The Rise of David Duke, Tyler Bridges, pg. 80, 1994 and Chloe moved to

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populatio ...

, in order to be near her parents. There, she became involved with Duke's Klan friend Don Black, whom she later married. Duke rented out an apartment in

beginning around 1999. He lived in Russia for five years. Duke currently resides in

Mandeville, Louisiana Mandeville is a city in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. Its population was 11,560 at the 2010 U.S. census, and 13,192 at the 2020 United States census. Mandeville is located on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, south of Interst ...

In the media

Duke is portrayed by actor

Topher Grace Christopher John Grace ( ; born July 12, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Eric Forman in the Fox sitcom '' That '70s Show'', Eddie Brock / Venom in Sam Raimi's film ''Spider-Man 3'', Pete Monash in '' Win a Date with Tad ...

in the

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

film '' BlacKkKlansman'' (2018). Duke was banned from

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

in 2018, over a year after his participation in the

Unite the Right rally The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, Neo-Nazism, neo- ...

. Duke was banned from

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

in late June 2020 for repeated violation of the platform's policies against hate speech, along with Richard Spencer and Stefan Molyneux. Duke's Twitter account was permanently suspended at the end of July 2020 for violating the company's rules on hateful conduct.

Self-published books

* Duke, David ''Jewish Supremacism'' (Free Speech Press, 2003; 350 pages) * Duke, David '' My Awakening'' (Free Speech Books, 1998; 736 pages)

References

Notes Bibliography * Bridges, Tyler (1995) ''The Rise of David Duke''. Mississippi University Press. * Rose, Douglas D. (1992) ''The Emergence of David Duke and the Politics of Race''. University of North Carolina Press. * McQuaid, John (April 13, 2003) "Ex-Klan Leader Is Popular in Europe, Mideast, Even as He Heads to Jail Here", '' New Orleans Times-Picayune'' * Vierling, Alfred
InterviewInterview
* Zatarain, Michael (1990) ''David Duke: Evolution of a Klansman''. Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing, 1990. Further reading *

External links

* Filmography * * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Duke, David 1950 births Living people 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 20th-century far-right politicians in the United States 9/11 conspiracy theorists American anti-communists American conspiracy theorists American expatriates in Italy American government officials convicted of crimes American Holocaust deniers American Nazi Party members American people convicted of tax crimes American politicians convicted of fraud American self-help writers Anti-Masonry Anti-Zionism in the United States Antisemitism in the United States Criminals from Oklahoma Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragons Louisiana Democrats Louisiana politicians convicted of crimes Louisiana Republicans Louisiana State University alumni Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives People deported from the Czech Republic People deported from Italy Politicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma Politicians from New Orleans Politics and race in the United States Populist Party (United States, 1984) politicians Reform Party of the United States of America politicians Candidates in the 1988 United States presidential election Candidates in the 1992 United States presidential election Writers from New Orleans Writers from Tulsa, Oklahoma 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers American members of the Churches of Christ 20th-century American non-fiction writers Interregional Academy of Personnel Management alumni Neo-Nazi politicians in the United States 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Candidates in the 2016 United States Senate elections