The KKK's Official Paper Supports Donald Trump

When white supremacists are coming out in support of a specific presidential candidate, you can be sure that all hell has broken loose. It appears that at least one of the seven seals has been broken, and the nation's most infamous racist brotherhood is throwing their weight in support of the candidate most loved by hateful people. The KKK's official paper just supported Donald Trump for president, citing shared values and the importance of the "White Christian Republic" that was, according to the Klan's newspaper, what initially "made America great." Trump's campaign immediately denounced the support.

On Nov. 1, reports from multiple parts of the country came in regarding KKK flyers that both implicitly and explicitly endorsed Trump. The most vocal of all came from The Crusader, the Klan's official newspaper, which dedicated its entire front page to Trump under a large headline bearing Trump's slogan, "Make America Great Again." A spokesman from the Klan said that the white supremacist group did not officially endorse Trump, but they do support and admire him and his candidacy.

The explicit support from The Crusader was backed by literature found in other parts of the country that didn't expressly mention Trump or the Republican party by name, but that encouraged people to vote — a twisted version of the "get out the vote" programs that traditional political campaigns undertake to ensure that their voter base makes it to the polls. Although they didn't mention Trump, it's not a far stretch that the groups that left these pamphlets expect their supporters to infer which candidate the Klan and other white supremacist groups support.

Hours after The Crusader's front page went viral, the Trump campaign denounced the publication and the group behind it in a statement:

Mr. Trump and the campaign denounces hate in any form. This publication is repulsive and their views do not represent the tens of millions of Americans who are uniting behind our campaign.

Although the effluence of support by the KKK just a week from the election is as timely as it is telling, it's far from the first time white supremacists have expressed their admiration for Trump. In July, the Trump campaign came under fire when Mother Jones revealed that the campaign selected William Johnson, an infamous white nationalist leader, as a delegate in California. In response to the finding, the Trump campaign said:

Yesterday the Trump campaign submitted its list of California delegates to be certified by the Secretary of State of California. A database error led to the inclusion of a potential delegate that had been rejected and removed from the campaign's list in February 2016.

Johnson resigned shortly after.

On top of that, Trump has repeatedly shared content on social media authored by white supremacists, although each seemingly racist faux pas is often followed by a retraction and apology. Though Trump's campaign has paid lip service against such embarrassing racist groups and individuals, the connection between them seems undeniable.