Russell Moore just published a series of tweets about former KKK leader David Duke, who just announced his intention to run for Senator from the state of Louisiana.
I grew up in south Louisiana, and I too remember when Duke ran for governor back in 1990. I also remember that there were plenty of people who thought his candidacy was a great idea. I also remember people driving around town with “Duke” stickers on their vehicles. Those stickers were often accompanied by displays of the Confederate battle flag. Everyone knew what those displays meant. And they didn’t just mean, “I think Stonewall Jackson was a fine Christian gentleman.”
I couldn’t agree more with Moore on this one. See below.
1.) As an 18 year-old, I watched the rise of David Duke, with horror and disbelief.
— Russell Moore (@drmoore) July 22, 2016
2.) I saw people I had previously respected degrade themselves with moral relativism in their support for him.
— Russell Moore (@drmoore) July 22, 2016
3.) "He's not KKK anymore; he's repentant," they said. "At least he's not Edwards." "He'll vote for/appoint pro-life jurists."
— Russell Moore (@drmoore) July 22, 2016
4.) "He's not racist," they said. "He's just talking about law and order and welfare and borders."
— Russell Moore (@drmoore) July 22, 2016
5.) These people never recovered their witness.
— Russell Moore (@drmoore) July 22, 2016
6.) And now he's back, once again, running for US Senate. God have mercy.
— Russell Moore (@drmoore) July 22, 2016
7.) The biggest problem, though, was not David Duke. It was the moral relativism of his supporters, and the silence of those afraid of them.
— Russell Moore (@drmoore) July 22, 2016
8.) A conscience is a terrible thing to sear.
— Russell Moore (@drmoore) July 22, 2016
I do think that Duke’s reemergence today is directly related to Trump’s rise to the GOP nomination. Trump’s nomination emboldens the likes of Duke. Why? You will remember that when asked about Duke in February, Trump refused to repudiate Duke. In case you’ve forgotten that infamous moment, I’ve included the video below.
Trump’s response in February is in contrast to the Louisiana GOP, who immediately condemned Duke’s bid for the senate.
.@DrDavidDuke is a felon & a hate-filled fraud who does not embody the values of the GOP. We will be actively opposing his candidacy. #lasen
— L A G O P (@lagop) July 22, 2016
6 Comments
buddyglass
Just going to throw this out there:
Those of you who plan to vote for Trump: If it were David Duke instead of Donald Trump as the Republican running against Hillary Clinton this fall, would you vote for Duke as the lesser of two evils?
Assume he’d be more likely than Clinton to nominate pro-life justices to the Supreme Court.
Ike Lentz
This is such a clarifying question. It’s been shocking to watch otherwise rational people bend reality to equivocate Clinton’s run-of-the-mill political scandals with Trump’s apocalyptic hate-filled demagoguery.
Dan Phillips
Can you explain to me how Russell Moore can say that Duke supporters “never recovered their witness,” but evidently (evidently!) Moore feels that Clinton supporters — who even today don’t oppose Clinton nearly as much as they do people they never did support — can recover their witness?
buddyglass
Does he argue somewhere that Clinton supporters have recovered their witness?
Dan Phillips
Does he give you the impression that he, for instance, thinks he has lost his witness?
twebb2
Dr. Burk, Keep on speaking the truth!!!
Tim Webb