Philadelphia
The top spokesman for the Republican National Committee reiterated that the GOP will not back David Duke in his bid for the U.S. Senate—even if the Republican majority of the Senate were on the line.
“We came out against Todd Akin four years ago,” Sean Spicer, the RNC’s communications director, told THE WEEKLY STANDARD Tuesday. “There’s no way, shape, or form this party has a room in it for someone like David Duke.”
Duke, a white supremacist and former KKK leader, announced he would run for the Senate in his home state of Louisiana as a Republican shortly after Donald Trump accepted the GOP nomination for president in Cleveland. Speaking to reporters following a press conference near the site of the Democratic National Convention, Spicer said someone with Duke’s views has no place within his party.
What about if the party control of the Senate were up for grabs—and with it, the fate of the Supreme Court? Would the RNC consider backing Duke in that scenario?
“At some point, you have to stand up for some kind of principle, and David Duke does not speak for where the Republican party is,” Spicer said. So what is that limiting principle, and where should national Republicans draw the line?
“What was the Supreme Court ruling on limiting free speech, that you know it when you see it? I mean, at some point, when you’re a white supremacist, that’s a black-and-white [issue]. There’s no gray,” said Spicer.
Trump himself, while certainly no white supremacist, has made bigoted and racist comments in recent months, most notably when he suggested that a judge of Mexican heritage is not qualified to preside over the Trump University case because “he’s Mexican.” The attack was enough to prompt House speaker Paul Ryan to call it a “textbook definition of a racist statement.” Trump also flirted with the idea of accepting Duke’s February endorsement of him, just days before several Southern states held their primaries. And Duke has cited Trump’s nomination as inspiration for his Senate run.
When asked by TWS to clarify what the difference is between Duke and Trump when it comes to the RNC’s support, Spicer rejected the question.
“I mean, give me a break. That’s insulting,” he said. “That’s really, that’s ridiculous.”
When asked about Duke’s candidacy and endorsement on NBC Sunday, Trump said he “rebuked” the endorsement.
Duke isn’t the only Republican running for Senate in Louisiana, but under the state’s open primary system, the final runoff election to determine the winner of the seat could be members of any two parties. Asked if Trump would support a Democratic opponent over Duke in order to keep the former neo-Nazi out of the Senate, Trump gave contradictory answers.
“I guess, depending on who the Democrat (is)—but the answer would be yes,” he told NBC’s Chuck Todd.
