City Councilman Charles Barron, vying for a seat in Congress, picked up a bizarre – and potentially toxic – endorsement Thursday from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
Duke, who was once Grand Wizard of the KKK, released a web video in which he spewed anti-Semitic bile while heaping praise on the radical Brooklyn Councilman.
“The possible election of [Barron\], a dedicated anti-Zionist to the U.S. Congress, has thrown the Zionist-influenced media and the Zio-political establishment in a tizzy,” said Duke, who made an infamous bid for the White House in 1992.
While Duke admitted that he doesn’t agree with Barron on everything, he made sure to note that, “I certainly agree with Barron that Israel is the worst rogue terrorist state on Earth.”
Barron, however, did not want to discuss Duke’s blessing.
“We’re staying focused – and we demand respect for our campaign,” Barron said Thursday. “I don’t think that’s a campaign issue. I don’t think it’s intelligent.”
Barron is locked in a tight race with state Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries for the Democratic nomination to succeed outgoing Rep. Ed Towns.
Jeffries, who has received the endorsement of Sen. Charles Schumer and many state Democratic powers, was also not spared Duke’s venom.
“[Jeffries\] is a complete Zionist sellout of both the black people and all the people of America” claimed Duke, who also trashed the Assemblyman as a “bought-and-paid-for Zionist Uncle Tom.”
Jeffries’ team ripped Duke’s endorsement.
“Hate and extreme rhetoric have no place in our society,” said campaign spokeswoman Lupe Todd. “We denounce David Duke’s remarks in its entirety and urge the other candidate in this race to do the same.”
Barron, a former member of the Black Panthers, has unquestionably made statements in the past that some consider inflammatory, including dubbing dictators Moammar Gadhafi and Robert Mugabe his “heroes” and comparing the Israeli government to the Nazis.
Various elected officials have banded together to assail his candidacy – including the most powerful politician in the land.
President Obama does not offer endorsements in primaries but recently invited Jeffries to take a picture with him – sending a clear signal whom he prefers in Tuesday’s election.
Barron has run a surprisingly strong campaign and has scored a number of possibly very helpful endorsements, including that of Towns himself and of the powerful union District Council 37.
Barron, who helmed a failed bid for governor in 2010, sounded optimistic that his anti-government message would resonate with voters, though his campaign has been badly outspent by Jeffries’ team.
“Our troops are on the ground, and what we have heard from people in the district has been very [inspiring,\]” he said. “We have built the momentum – we think the whole establishment is scared and afraid of what we might represent as an unbiased, unbossed voice [in Congress\].”
Duke, a former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, says he believes in white supremacy and the separation of races.
