David Duke is considering running for Congress.
Perhaps the country’s most famous white supremacist, Duke said Tuesday that he is weighing whether to challenge Steve Scalise, a member of Republican leadership, in Louisiana. Duke has not made a final decision but said on his website that he has authorized an exploratory committee. He told The Daily Beast that he expects to make a decision by July 22, the state’s ballot deadline.
“There are millions of people across the country who would like to have me in the Congress. I’d be the only person in Congress openly defending the rights and the heritage of European Americans,” he told The Daily Beast. “We are on the offensive today. There’s no more defenses.”
A former Louisiana state representative, Duke has waged many political campaigns, including a run for governor of the state in 1991 and for Congress in 1999.
Duke was thrust into the 2016 spotlight given his embrace of Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. Trump initially declined earlier this year to distance himself from white supremacists like Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard. The billionaire later said he disavowed Duke’s support.
This would be the second time in recent years that Duke would be a thorn in the side of Scalise, the Republican House Majority whip. When Scalise tried to rise in House Republican leadership, news emerged that he had addressed a white supremacist group run by Duke in 2002. He later said he regretted speaking with them.