Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Disavows David Duke Endorsement

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) disavowed the endorsement of former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard  and white supremacist David Duke on Feb. 5, calling his views “hateful.”

Duke tweeted out his support for Gabbard’s presidential bid on Feb. 4, calling her “a candidate for President who will really put America First.” He also tweeted that Gabbard is “the only presidential candidate who doesn’t want to send White children to die for Israel.” Duke’s Twitter banner reads, “Finally a candidate who will actually put America First rather than Israel First.”

Gabbard condemned Duke in a statement to The Hill.

“I have strongly denounced David Duke’s hateful views and his so-called ‘support’ multiple times in the past, and reject his support,” Gabbard said. “Publicizing Duke’s so-called ‘endorsement’ is meant to distract from my message: that I will end regime-change wars, work to end the new cold war and take us away from the precipice of a nuclear war, which is a greater danger now than ever before.”

In 2016, Duke had advocated for Gabbard to be President Trump’s secretary of state, prompting Gabbard to rebuke him by calling him “pure evil.”

“Our movement is one of love/aloha, inclusivity,” Gabbard tweeted at the time. “Duke represents hatred, racism, anti-Semitism, fear. We don’t want his ‘support.’ Period.”

Gabbard announced that she was running for president on Jan. 11. She has been representing Hawaii’s second congressional district since 2013.