I vividly remember the Lousiana Governor’s election in 1991, as does everyone I know from this country who was old enough back then to follow politics. It was, after all, one of the most notorious elections in American history. Former Governor Edwin Edwards was running for election, and his challenger was the neo-Nazi and former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke.
To put this election in context, it is important to point out that the corruption of the Edwards administration was not only very widely known, it was legendary. At the time of that election, he was already facing multiple federal indictments, including mail fraud, corruption of justice, and bribery (he was eventually found guilty of racketeering charges and sentenced to ten years in Federal prison).
By 1991 Edwards had lost the Governorship, and had completely fallen from power. Many people had written off his chances for a comeback. But then he got lucky: His opponent turned out to be a neo-Nazi former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
To many people, given how scary Duke was, Edwards was very much the lesser of two evils. One bumper sticker during that election read: “Vote For the Crook. It’s Important.”
Edwards won the election.
So when Donald Trump said, when told by Jake Tapper on CNN that David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the KKK was supporting him, that he didn’t know who Duke was, Donald Trump was lying. He wasn’t maybe sort of kind of lying. He was flat out lying.
Just to avoid any confusion, Tapper clarified the question: “I’m just talking about David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan here,” to which Trump responded “I don’t know David Duke … I just don’t know anything about him.”
In fact the Donald had himself previously publicly condemned Duke and his racist extremism. Trump knew exactly who Duke is. Millions of Americans who were over the age of twenty in 1991 know exactly who Duke is.
So the question I have is, why lie?
Let’s be generous here and posit, as implausible as it might be, that Trump had somehow simply forgotten one of the most notorious figures in American politics. If somebody tells you that the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan (whoever they may be) supports your candidacy, shouldn’t you immediately disavaow that endorsement?
The only theory I can come up with is this: Maybe the Trump campaign, building on resentment in certain quarters about the ethnicity of our current President, is betting that there are more racist white voters in the U.S. than there are black voters.
I can’t think of any other theories. Maybe somebody else can.