House Representative Steve Scalise says he deeply regrets giving a speech before a white supremacist group, insisting it was just an accident. His explanations are falling on deaf ears to many, but he still has plenty of defenders, including House Speaker John Boehner and, unfortunately for Scalise, white pride leader Kenny Knight.
Steve Scalise is House Majority Whip from Louisiana, the third highest ranking Republican on the hill. On Tuesday, he admitted to giving a speech at a EURO conference. EURO stands for European-American Unity and Rights Organization, a group founded by former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke. EURO is often associated with racial prejudice and white supremacy.
Scalise insists that he rejects the group’s beliefs as “hateful bigotry” and said he appeared at the convention by mistake.
He reportedly said to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, “ I didn’t have a scheduler back then” and “I was without the advantages of a tool like Google.”
According to CNN , House Speaker John Boehner still has “full confidence” in his whip, as he explained in a statement.
“More than a decade ago, Representative Scalise made an error in judgment, and he was right to acknowledge it was wrong and inappropriate. Like many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I know Steve to be a man of high integrity and good character. He has my full confidence as our Whip, and he will continue to do great and important work for all Americans.”
Kenny Knight, long-time aide to grand wizard David Duke, is also coming to Scalise’s defense.
“Poor Steve Scalise is getting a bad rap, I don’t think Steve Scalise would come anywhere near a white hate group.”
The Daily Beast reports that Knight does not consider his groups to be “hate groups” despite their racist rhetoric. Knight explained that he was the one who initially invited the politician to the convention.
“I am going to reach out to Steve Scalise and apologize to him, [and tell him], ‘You are being crucified and you did nothing wrong. You were there at my invitation to discuss issues with your constituents.’”
Knight lived down the street from Scalise and was active in GOP politics at the time, giving him the opportunity to extend an invitation.
As for Knight’s boss, CNN reports that a roll call from 1999 suggests that Steve Scalise knew grand wizard David Duke quite well, although he was critical of his beliefs. At one point, the two both ran in a special election for a House seat, at which time Scalise accused Duke of being “unelectable” for his views.
According to Time Magazine , Steve Scalise once made a name for himself going after Obama official Van Jones, who oversaw a number of green projects.
Jones’ name appeared on a petition accusing the Bush administration of allowing the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Ironically, Jones also said the appearance of his name was an accident and the views expressed in the petition were in no way his own, but he ended up having to resign.
Now Steve Scalise has to fight or succumb to the same fate.
[Image Credit: Gage Skidmore /Flickr]