David Duke without the baggage: House Majority Whip Steve Scalise
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise hasn't had a ton to say publicly since the public learned that he once spoke to a white supremacist organization. Naturally he comes back by
offering advice to his party about how to win a presidential election:
“People are like, ‘Oh, should it be a moderate? Somebody who can get elected?’” Scalise said during a wide-ranging interview in his Capitol office.
“You know, I’d argue we’ve had moderates nominated the last few times and they haven’t won,” he said. “Show me the last time a conservative has lost the presidency. I think if we have a strong conservative with a proven record, we’ll win the White House.”
So ... David Duke? Scalise is familiar enough with the former KKK grand wizard, having not only addressed the Duke-founded European-American Unity and Rights Organization but having billed himself in the past as
David Duke without the baggage.
Come on! It's too easy. The guy gets in trouble for having marketed himself to white supremacists, he's allowed to keep his leadership role despite all the people pointing out that having someone who panders to white supremacists in leadership is not a great look for a major political party, and then he comes back with a clear set-up for a David Duke joke. Except it's not even a joke—that is who Steve Scalise is, or was as long as he thought it was the quickest way to be elected to Congress.
In short, yes, House GOP leadership still includes a white supremacist-panderer who voted against Martin Luther King Day, hate crimes legislation, and more, where more = a bunch of bills recognizing black people and their rights and achievements. And he feels comfortable publicly talking about how his party needs to go right in presidential elections. That's today's Republican Party, for sure.