KKK Leader Finds Donald Trump a Great Recruiting Tool
Donald Trump is inspiring white supremacists, according to a national organizer of a leading Ku Klux Klan group — and his candid rhetoric is being used to recruit more of them.
The KKK is using the Republican presidential frontrunner as an outreach tool, Rachel Pendergraft, the national membership coordinator for the Knights Party, told The Washington Post. Trump’s candidacy, which has been characterized by often divisive nativist rhetoric, has “electrified” some members, the newspaper reported Monday.
“They like the overall momentum of his rallies and his campaign,” Pendergraft said. “They like that he’s not willing to back down. He says what he believes and he stands on that.”
The KKK organizer said the group uses the headlines Trump makes to start conversations with separatists about issues that are important to the white supremacist movement. “One of the things that our organization really stresses with our membership is we want them to educate themselves on issues, but we also want them to be able to learn how to open up a conversation with other people,” Pendergraft said.