Trump, Csurka, Orbán and David Duke

US politics has taken a wild turn with the almost-certain nomination of Donald Trump as presidential candidate of the Republican Party.

Few US politicians have endorsed Mr. Trump so far, but he gotten one excited fan, David Duke the far right activist and former Ku Klux Klan (KKK) Grand Wizard. Mr. Duke enthusiastically endorsed Mr. Trump and sees him as a defender of Christianity and the “European-American race.”

After Mr. Duke’s endorsement, Mr. Trump dodged repeated questions on live television. Later Mr. Trump blamed his earpiece and insisted that he still doesn’t know much about Mr. Duke. Mr. Trump’s initial refusal to condemn Mr. Duke has sparked an outrage and his insistence that he doesn’t know much about him is surprising since Mr. Trump has been talking about Mr. Duke for years. In 2000, in an interview with NBC, Mr. Trump called David Duke “a bigot, a racist, a problem.” Mr. Trump also wrote an op-ed for The New York Times that noted Mr. Duke is “not company I wish to keep.”

Philadelphia Daily cover with Trump - "The New Furor"

Philadelphia Daily cover with Trump – “The New Furor”

David Duke was born in 1950. He was 24 years old when he founded the Louisiana-based KKK and later became its Grand Wizard. Mr. Duke’s philosophy is simple. America’s ills are caused by the blacks, the Jews, the Mexicans, the immigrants and the liberal media. Duke has softened his rhetoric lately, he never uses the N word; he talks instead about European-Americans. Mr. Duke is also a former one-term Republican state representative in Louisiana and has run numerous failed political campaigns. Also, although he rarely mentions it, he is a convicted felon who served 15 months in federal prison for tax and mail fraud and was fined $10,000.

In 2006 Mr. Duke toured Hungary spending nine days of nonstop “educating, motivating and inspiring the patriotic movement.” He traveled across Hungary speaking to packed rooms emphasizing the “close relationship between Jewish power and Bolshevism.” The Hungarian version of his book, Zsidó Szupremácizmus (Jewish Supremacism), was published by Gede Brothers and became a best-seller.

Hungarian David Duke poster advertising his book

Hungarian David Duke poster advertising his book

Duke received a hero’s welcome by writer and far-right politician István Csurka, who immediately bonded with him. Mr. Csurka (1934 –2012) was a talented and celebrated writer, who was also a police informer, a so called III/III agent, reporting to the Communist secret service. After the fall of Communism he turned to the far-right, not an unusual switch in Hungary. Mr. Csurka founded the neo-Nazi Hungarian Justice and Life Party (MIÉP) and was Member of Parliament for eight years. Duke’s anti-Semitic message resonated well with MIÉP’s political program that fought against “the Tel-Aviv New York axis” and the “Zionists invaders” who were planning to establish a second home in Hungary.

 Duke spoke at Magyarok Világszövetsége in 2006

Duke spoke at Magyarok Világszövetsége in 2006

István Csurka (left) and David Duke (middle) in Budapest

István Csurka (left) and David Duke (middle) in Budapest

Lately, Mr. Duke is a great admirer of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s handling of the refugee crisis. In his radio show he mentioned that Hungary is on “the front lines defending Europe from the invasion.” Talking to Hungarian journalist Ms. Monica Varga he discussed “the leading Jewish role in promoting this tsunami-gration.” (read more here)

Mr. Duke fondly remembers his visit to Budapest and noted that decades of experience with pro-Zionist TV stations and newspapers had paid off handsomely there. His first media conquest was over “a Marxist-oriented Jew by the name Friderikusz.” “Do not try to pronounce this name on your own; English speakers often mispronounce this name like ‘Freak-o-ricus’ a grave insult to the proud owner of the name” – he wrote.

Trump, Orbán and David Duke – we live in interesting times.

György Lázár

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