Hillary Clinton or David Duke? An Easy Choice for Some Donald Trump Supporters

White supremacist leader David Duke Image by YouTube

By Nathan Guttman September 22, 2016

Donald Trump voters, at least those in North Carolina, really dislike Hillary Clinton.

But just how strong are their feelings about her? Well, they hold a higher opinion of a white supremacist former Ku Klux Klan leader than the former First Lady.

This piece of information is included in the latest Public Policy Polling survey of North Carolina voters. The poll found Trump and Clinton tied in this key swing state, and both highly disliked by voters.

When asked: “Who do you have a higher opinion of: Hillary Clinton or David Duke?” 30% of Trump supporters chose Duke, a former KKK leader and member of the American Nazi Party, who is now running for a Senate seat in Louisiana, over Clinton who got only 23%.

Duke has endorsed Trump despite attempts by the Republican candidate to disavow his support.

North Carolina’s Indy Week which reported on the poll, reminded its readers of some of Duke’s supporters’ latest comments posted on his website, including: “Hey Jared, Jews May Look White, But They Sure Don’t Act White!” which indicates that while the former Klan leader may like Trump, he does not approve of his Jewish son-in-law.

Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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