Reality TV star Donald Trump is inexplicably edging his was closer to the White House, but when members of the KKK allegedly showed up to show their support at a Nevada caucus site, it raised some eyebrows. Despite the unorthodox support of some of the most reviled racists in history of the United States, Trump won the Nevada primary handily, CNN reports. In fact, Donald Trump raked in 45.9 percent of the vote and 14 of 30 delegates, while Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz came in 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
So how does Donald Trump (or any other candidate) score a huge political win in 2016 while being openly supported by the KKK? It depends on who’s telling the story.
According to The Source , Donald Trump’s KKK supporters were very visible at a caucus event on Tuesday night. The caucus took place at Cimarron Memorial High School just outside of Vegas, and the sighting of the KKK members prompted calls to the police and a police response to the scene. Photographs of the KKK members were posted on social media, and it showed the robed Donald Trump supporters holding signs indicating that they were reps from the New England Police Benevolent Association. That group is also controversial, although perhaps not as controversial as the KKK, and it endorsed Donald Trump back in December.
The KKK showed up to support Donald Trump at his Nevada caucus event on the heels of reports that his father was arrested and released in 1927 for his alleged involvement in a KKK rally in Queens, New York. The New York Times reports that Donald Trump was questioned about his father’s alleged involvement with the KKK in 1927, and during the interview denied reports of his father’s arrest due to his potential association with the hate group.
“It never happened. And by the way, I saw that it was one little website that said it. It never happened. And they said there were no charges, no nothing. It’s unfair to mention it, to be honest, because there were no charges. They said there were charges against other people, but there were absolutely no charges, totally false.”
“Somebody showed me that website — it was a little website and somebody did that. By the way, did you notice that there were no charges? Well, if there are no charges that means it shouldn’t be mentioned.”
Despite all of the above, though, some are calling into question the legitimacy of the KKK Donald Trump supporters photographed outside of his Nevada caucus event. According to a report by Front Page Mag , it was some kind of conspiracy against Donald Trump. Because, according to the outlet, if you look at the photos posted to social media, those alleged KKK members were black.
While there were no actual interviews done with the masked “KKK Trump supporters,” it does seem apparent from the photographs that the cloaked and hooded individuals holding up signs in support of Donald Trump were most likely African American.
Interviews were done with a man who “confronted” the alleged KKK members, according to reports, but by that time the hooded caucus attendees had taken off (or at least taken off their hoods and robes.)
It’s also reported that Senator Aaron Ford “essentially admitted they were black,” but claimed that their race “didn’t matter.”
The report by Front Page Mag goes on to presume that these black men in KKK garb holding signs in support of Donald Trump must somehow be affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement, although since there is no indication who they actually are, there’s no way to draw this conclusion with any accuracy.
The media outlet goes on to accuse the media of misrepresenting the story, calling it a “political protest” turned into a “fake hate crime.”
So, what do you think? Can a black person be a member of the KKK? Did the KKK really show up to support Donald Trump, or was it some kind of attempt to smear the GOP front-runner?
[Image Courtesy of Ethan Miller/Getty Images]