I knew Stephanie, and don’t question her truthfulness. Instead, she trotted it out many years later, “going from memory,” when Scalise rose in Congress. Grace, a reporter, apparently neither recorded nor published the statement. The charge is that young Scalise described his platform as similar to Duke’s during a personal conversation with fellow LSU alum Stephanie Grace. But it’s the story reputable news outlets have reported.įinally, what about the claim Scalise “describes” himself as like Duke? Using present tense is deceptive, because even if true, the story dates back to the mid-1990s. “Scalise accepted a shady acquaintance’s invitation to speak briefly about domestic policy before a civic association in a hotel that he should have known would host a white-supremacist conference later that day.” Making the accusations “mostly true” gets weirdly convoluted: Not even this disreputable character, though, managed to dredge much racialist content from the legislator’s policy talk. Who’s considered more believable than the conference organizer on this question? An author for the Klan-affiliated Stormfront, writing under a pseudonym, whose piece called Scalise’s presentation part of the conference. Knight, corroborated by his ex-girlfriend, says Scalise appeared at an unconnected neighborhood-association meeting earlier in the day. What about Scalise’s alleged “appearance” at a racist conference organized by Knight, his campaign manager? The same guy treated as credible when describing their friendship suddenly becomes untrustworthy when denying this allegation. It was, perhaps, an unfair dig: Americans know the tune as the 2001: A Space Odyssey theme. Struggling to capture the fascist overtones of Duke’s campaign launch, with the full-throated chant of “Duke, Duke, Duke” coming from a massive arena crowd, I fixed on the music playing when the candidate emerged on stage - pointing out that the composer, Richard Strauss, held a position under the Third Reich. (I had ambushed Duke in a parking lot to make sure he didn’t dodge a scheduled Q&A with USA Today, and he offered me a ride back to my car.) Those indirect ties didn’t stop me from infuriating Duke’s inner circle, though. At least one close friend and one distant family member held posts in Duke’s campaigns, and I once rode in a car with just Duke and his driver. When asked, Scalise condemned Duke’s bigotry.īy that standard of guilt, I may have more personal association with Duke than Scalise. No record of Scalise and Duke meeting, sharing a stage, or being in the same organization. Here’s the tangible connection: Duke campaign manager Kenneth Knight lived in Scalise’s neighborhood, and they were on friendly terms. Let’s start with Scalise’s “association” with Duke. So what’s wrong with the Twitter mob’s accusations? I covered Duke’s campaigns as a reporter, watched his legislative career as a Democratic aide, and analyzed his voting support as an academic. His entry in the 1992 Republican presidential nominating contest flopped, even in the Deep South. Eventually, the baggage caught up and Duke’s star fell. Senate in 1990 and governor of Louisiana in 1991, both times winning among white voters but losing the election. Duke registered Republican so he could win a suburban state House seat, then ran for U.S. I worked in the Louisiana statehouse during the rise of David Duke, a former Klan grand wizard once pictured protesting in a Nazi uniform. I covered student government at Louisiana State University when Scalise cut his teeth as a novice politician. Normally when I analyze politics, I do so objectively as a nonpartisan scientist with a moderate outlook. “Scalise describes himself as ‘David Duke without the baggage.’ He’s associated with Duke & attended a white-supremacist conference.”Īnd here’s my fact check on that narrative: It’s partly false, broadly misleading, and insofar as it’s supposed to make Scalise sound distinct from his Republican competition, entirely unfair.īefore justifying those conclusions, though, I offer a warning. The attack trending on X/Twitter went something like this: Scalise’s detractors loaded their cannon with the same ammunition fired at him nine years ago, when Scalise sought to become GOP whip, and it exploded like scattershot over social media once McCarthy gave up on retaking his post. House, attackers pivoted their artillery toward Majority Leader Steve Scalise, an obvious candidate to replace him. Almost as soon as Kevin McCarthy lost his position as speaker of the U.S.
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