White supremacist groups credit surging interest to Donald Trump: 'He's certainly creating a movement'


As the Republican Party grows more and more concerned about Donald Trump, at least one group is loving his rise to prominence: white supremacists. Politico reports that the white supremacist website Stormfront has had to upgrade its servers to handle all the new traffic coming their way since Trump took off in the polls; the Ku Klux Klan confirms that Trump has served as a major talking point for feeling out recruits.
"He's made it okay to talk about these incredible concerns of European Americans today," former KKK grand wizard and onetime Louisiana representative David Duke said.
Hate group monitors at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Anti-Defamation League warn that Trump's statements about banning Muslims and rounding up Mexicans have "energized" racist intellectuals and neo-Nazis. "When well-known public figures make these kind of statements in the public square, they are taken as a permission-giving by criminal elements who go out and act on their words," SPLC's Mark Potak told Politico.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But some white supremacists remain skeptical of Trump's plans. "Do we honestly believe that he's going to block all the Muslims and deport all the illegals? I think he's doing a lot of this just to signal to people that he's on their side," Brad Griffin of the white nationalist blog Occidental Dissent said.
"He'd have to employ the military to do it, and I don't think they're going to do that," agreed former KKK leader Tom Metzger.
But that doesn't seem to bother him too much. "As long as [Trump is] causing chaos and havoc with the citizens, he's fine with me," Metzger said. "I love it."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Democrats: How to rebuild a damaged brand
Feature Trump's approval rating is sinking, but so is the Democratic brand
-
Unraveling autism
Feature RFK Jr. has vowed to find the root cause of the 'autism epidemic' in months. Scientists have doubts.
-
'Two dolls': Can Trump sell Americans on austerity?
Feature Trump's tariffs may be threatening holiday shelves but they've handed Democrats a 'huge gift'
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'