Trump's unwelcome support: White supremacists
Trump's unwelcome support: White supremacists
Story highlights
- A group of white supremacists is giving Donald Trump some unwanted help
- They are placing robocalls on behalf of the presidential candidate even though he has said he doesn't want the support
(CNN)New
Hampshire voters may be stunned to hear the latest robocall asking for
their vote; it's from white nationalists with a simple, disturbing
message.
"We don't need Muslims.
We need smart, educated, white people," according to the male voice on
the calls, which began Thursday night and urge voters in New Hampshire
to vote for Donald Trump.
Three
white nationalist leaders have banded together to form their own super
PAC in support of Trump, even though Trump doesn't want their support.
The
American National Super PAC is funding the robocall effort, which is
organized under a separate group called the American Freedom Party.
On its website, the American Freedom Party says it "shares the customs and heritage of the European American people."
Hear the entire unauthorized phone call endorsing Trump at the American Freedom Party website. It was not immediately clear how many New Hampshire homes would receive the calls. Similar robocalls were placed ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
Jared
Taylor, online editor of AmRen, the media outlet of the white
nationalist group called American Renaissance, is one of the voices on
the robocall. Taylor is also spokesman for the group the Council of
Conservative Citizens, which is widely considered to be white
supremacist group, though they call themselves a "white rights" group on
their website. The group dates back decades and inspired Dylann Roof,
who last summer confessed to shooting and killing nine people at the
Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Taylor said he prefers to be called a "white advocate" rather than a white nationalist or white supremacist.
"Most
white people would prefer to live in majority white neighborhoods and
send their children to majority white schools, and deep in their bones,
they are deeply disturbed by an immigration policy that is making the
United States majority non-white," said Taylor. "So when Donald Trump
talks about sending out all the illegals, building a wall and a
moratorium on Islamic immigration, that's very appealing to a lot of
ordinary white people."
Taylor added,
"They will say that I support Donald Trump because he's going to send
away all illegal immigrants and build a wall and that he wants to put a
moratorium on Islamic immigration, and I will say that what this means
is that he wants immigrants who will assimilate to our Western values.
And I'm all for that, and I think all of the people in New Hampshire are
all for that, too."
"And if a school and their parents and their kids wanted to be multicultural?" asked CNN's Drew Griffin.
"God
bless them, too. Complete freedom of association is what I stand for.
And if people wish to mix it up, fine," Taylor replied. "You'll just
find that when the government isn't shoving them together, there just
aren't that many who wish to mix it up. But if they want to? Go right
ahead."
Racist calls hurting Trump
There is some evidence the calls may be doing more harm than good for Trump.
William
Johnson, a California attorney who helped organize the racist,
pro-Trump phone calls, told CNN initial response from New Hampshire
residents has been "voluminous" but not exactly supportive.
"I
personally answered scores and scores of calls," Johnson wrote to CNN.
"Most were: 'Stop calling me' ... the next most popular response was
'I'll never vote for Trump, so there!'"
Johnson
said he has received only "a noteworthy minority of calls that were
favorable to Donald Trump and/or to our pro-white message."
Trump doesn't want group's support
Contacted
by CNN, the Trump campaign would not speak specifically about Taylor,
his group, the robocalls, or the group's white nationalist ideas.
"Mr.
Trump has disavowed all Super PACs offering their support and continues
to do so," said Hope Hicks, a Trump campaign spokeswoman.
The
American National super PAC says it has nothing to do with the official
Trump campaign and has no communication with the candidate.
Its
white nationalist members just say they like Trump, and are willing to
support him whether the candidate welcomes them or not.
Asked
whether he thinks Trump wants his support, Taylor said: "I don't know
whether he wants it or not. I think he wants support from everyone.
Whether or not he would agree with me is an entirely other matter.
Remember, it is I who am supporting Donald Trump, and not Donald Trump
who is supporting me."
Taylor said
there are only a handful of people involved in the effort. But he claims
the movement he supports, white supremacy, is attractive to hundreds of
thousands of Americans eager for a candidate to restore order.
Taylor added that of all the candidates, Trump "is the best man so far."
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