Since last week’s bombshell revelation that Republican Whip Steve Scalise chose to cheerlead at a David Duke organized White supremacist rally in New Orleans, the reaction hasn’t been good for Scalise. While Speaker Boehner and Republican Leader McCarthy have backed Scalise, others have raised real concerns that will continue to plague the Republican Conference.
Boston Herald Editorial Board: “U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), third-ranking leader of the majority Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, shouldn’t keep that position as long as questions swirl about his 2002 address to a gathering organized by David Duke, who ran as a racist candidate for governor of Louisiana in 1991 and for other offices at other times. The revelations can only hurt the party if he stays.” [Boston Herald, 1/04/15]
Chicago Tribune Editorial Board: “It’s pretty clear that Scalise saw some potential political benefit from hobnobbing with a crowd of hard-core bigots. In 1999, he had tried to appeal to Duke’s supporters by indicating he shared many of their concerns: “The voters in this district are smart enough to realize that they need to get behind someone who not only believes in the issues they care about, but also can get elected. Duke has proven that he can’t get elected, and that’s the first and most important thing.” […] The trouble with Scalise is not that he is a racist. It’s that he is more than willing to indulge white bigots and their sentiments when it suits his political needs. By playing footsie with this group, Scalise has disqualified himself from a position of leadership in a party that needs to do a better job of understanding and addressing the suspicions it arouses among many minority Americans.” [Chicago Tribune, 12/31/14]
Times-Picayune Editorial Board: “U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise never should have agreed in 2002 to speak at a conference organized by a hate group founded by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. It was a grievous error in judgment. Rep. Scalise acknowledged that Tuesday, saying it was a ‘mistake that I regret’ and condemning the group’s racist views. […] But his credibility has suffered with Louisianians who find David Duke and his anti-black, anti-Jewish, anti-gay beliefs abhorrent. He will have to work diligently to repair it.” [Times-Picayune, 12/31/14]
Peter Wehner, a former advisor to President George W. Bush. “This is acidic for the Republican Party…I just think it is an untenable position to have a person in the leadership of the Republican Party in the House who has spoken to a white supremacist group.” [New York Times, 12/31/14]
Stacy Burdett, the Anti-Defamation League director of government and national affairs: “The public is right to want to know why a candidate for office, or any political leader, might have attended a meeting of David Dukes organization.” [Times Picayune, 12/31/14]
Sacramento Bee Editorial Board: “On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the most powerful Republican politician in California, defended House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, who had admitted that in 2002, he spoke to a group founded by the neo-Nazi racist David Duke. And McCarthy wonders why Republicans have a tough time winning elections in the Golden State. […] In the election just past, California Republicans sought to rebrand themselves. But that’s tough when they are defined by the national GOP. Perhaps the issue doesn’t have to do with how California Republicans ran races. Perhaps it has to do with Republicans who claim to support minorities and new Americans, but speak to the European-American Unity and Rights Organization. And maybe leaders who make excuses for the indefensible share some of the blame.” [Sacramento Bee, 12/30/14]
Merced Sun-Star Editorial Board: “House Majority Whip Steve Scalise has admitted that in 2002 he spoke to a group founded by neo-Nazi racist David Duke. Scalise now calls it a mistake, but the Louisiana Republican didn’t worry so much about it back then. On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy defended Scalise, calling him a friend. Standing by your friends is laudable, but McCarthy must recognize that such loyalty comes with a price. Perhaps McCarthy will recall his loyalty to a Louisiana politician the next time he looks over the election results from the Golden State, and wonders why Republicans don’t do well in California.” [Merced Sun-Star, 12/30/14]
Southern Poverty Law Center: “Scalise, a politician who already had national aspirations at the time of the 2002 EURO conference, certainly should have known what his dalliance with open white supremacists might cost him. In 1998, a scandal erupted when it was revealed that U.S. Rep. Bob Barr (R-Georgia) and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) had endorsed and spoken to the Council of Conservative Citizens, a major white supremacist hate group. In late 2002, after singing the praises of segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), Lott was forced to resign his leadership post. Now Steve Scalise should do the same.” [splcenter.org, 12/30/14]
Charles Krauthammer: “Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer told viewers on Tuesday’s ‘Special Report with Bret Baier’ that Republican Congressman Steve Scalise of Louisiana should have offered to step down from his newly elected GOP leadership role after admitting he spoke before a white supremacist group 12 years ago.” [Fox News, 12/30/14]
USA Today Editorial Board: “If Scalise had a sense for what is in the best interest of his party, he would step aside before formally assuming his position in January […]Scalise is an apt symbol for the GOP’s problem with minority voters, and its own internal struggles for direction. He is a staunch conservative with a voting record utterly lacking in centrist or pragmatic positions. He is also a man hand-picked for leadership by the more mainstream speaker, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio. In that sense, he represents both the uncompromising right’s efforts to infiltrate leadership and leadership’s efforts to control its extremists.” [USA Today, 12/30/14]
Jennifer Rubin: “His appearance before that group was inexcusable, but his rather uncompelling reaction is more concerning. He holds a position of leadership and should be a model of good judgment and conduct. (Are there other appearances before other hate groups?) This is no way to start off the new Congress.” [Washington Post, 12/29/14]
Erik Erickson of Redstate: “My problem with Steve Scalise is judgment. He, like much of the Republican leadership, is so focused on putting electability over principle that it trips up his judgment. And this situation with Duke is another example of that. […] Electability over principle is rarely the smart play because more often than not the voters figure it out. That Scalise sought to agree with Duke’s “conservative” positions, but thought him unelectable is typical of how Republican leaders operate to the party’s detriment. […] But if Scalise was the conservative his spokesmen would have us believe, there is no doubt in my mind he’d be boxing up his office today.” [Redstate.com, 12/29/14]