I think it’s remarkable just how comfortable white folks were to vote for an outright white supremacist. It’s important to note that while Duke did give some throwaway lines about how he became a born-again Christian and wasn’t racist anymore… I don’t think anyone believed him because everything else he promoted and advocated for was outright racist. Duke was nothing like Nick Fuentes or even Richard Spencer today - racists who trying and hide just how racist they are. Duke was literally a former KKK grand wizard and even though he was in his early 40s, he had a long track record of openly white supremacist comments. His campaign platform was still racist af and to the surprise of no one here, he got a solid majority of the white vote and only lost because of solid turnout of black voters who voted against him.
I was reading some comments on Reddit about this race and of course white people there try and justify it. A whole lot of “well most white folks didn’t agree with Duke but the other guy was just too corrupt”. Of course, white people are never just racists. As if people really care so much about corruption that they’re willing to vote for literally the worst person in the country. I honestly hate this attitude among white folks - this idea that you must NEVER assume someone’s just racist, and that you can make any excuse for their racist actions or comments by finding some other reason - any reason at all - for their racism.
Literally AmeriKKKa.
(Thanks to Gerald Horne and Tony on the Actually Existing Socialism podcast for making me aware of this)
His great-great-grandfather, William Edwards, was killed in Marksville at the beginning of the American Civil War because of his pro-Union sentiment
As the 1991 governor’s race drew near, many of Edwards’ friends encouraged him to abandon his planned comeback, believing he had no chance of winning. After Edwards’ loss in 1987, journalist Lanny Keller wrote that the only way Edwin Edwards could ever be elected again was to run against Adolf Hitler. Edwards’s runoff opponent would be former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke.
The runoff between an avowed white supremacist and a suspected felon gained national attention. The Louisiana Coalition against Racism and Nazism was formed to challenge Duke, with its leadership including longtime Treen supporter Beth Rickey, a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee from New Orleans. The coalition revealed through a recording of Duke at a White Nationalist conference that he was still involved in Ku Klux Klan activities.
Edwards found himself receiving endorsements from notable Republican politicians including Treen, Roemer, and even president George H. W. Bush. A popular bumper sticker urging support for Edwards read “Vote For the Crook. It’s Important.” Another read “Vote for the Lizard, not the Wizard.”
Edwards said of Duke that “the only thing we have in common is that we both have been wizards beneath the sheets” and feigned concern for Duke’s health due to smoke inhalation “because he’s around so many burning crosses”. When a reporter asked Edwards what he needed to do to triumph over Duke, Edwards replied “stay alive”. On election day, Edwards defeated Duke in a landslide, 61 to 39 percent, a margin of nearly 400,000 votes.
Edwards said of Duke that “the only thing we have in common is that we both have been wizards beneath the sheets”
That really should go down as one of the sickest burns in history.
At the time, there was a popular campaign bumper sticker for Edwin Edwards that said “Vote for the crook, it’s important”.
You know the other guy, David Duke, was so bad that even the Republicans and President George Bush Senior supported Edwards over the KKK guy.
The IRL inspiration for Rambo, Bo Gritz, ran for president with David Duke as his running mate
