Yesterday, Republican Party standard bearer and likely nominee Donald Trump refused to denounce David Duke and the Klu Klux Klan. This is the same Trump that retweets white supremacists, calls Mexican immigrants rapists, and excuses the assault of a Black Lives Matter activist (the list goes on). Despite all of this, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy recently said he’ll “work with Donald Trump” and NRCC Chairman Greg Walden embarrassingly compared Trump to Ronald Reagan. Speaker Paul D. Ryan has also pledged to support Trump if he is the nominee. Congressman Coffman’s spokeswoman recently said “the answer is obviously yes” when asked if he would support Trump.
Unfortunately, these latest embraces of Trump and his nativist, xenophobic, and racist campaign is not that surprising for a Republican party that proudly defended their Majority Whip despite his association with David Duke and his white supremacist group.
https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/703971464647741440
It’s important to remember that last year several House Republicans – including Mike Coffman– attended the conference of Act! For America, which has been described as the “nation’s leading anti-Muslim hate group.” The same conference featured an extreme Anti-Muslim blogger whose work is posted across white supremacist websites. Trump has said he would ban all Muslims from coming to America and Rubio has said he would not only close down mosques but “any place” that Muslims gather. Disturbingly, Coffman refused to denounce Trump’s plan even while other Republicans in Colorado were doing so.
“Congressman Coffman has made it clear that he will ‘obviously’ support Trump if he is the nominee,” said DCCC Spokesman Tyler Law. “Given that Trump refused to immediately and unequivocally denounce the Ku Klux Klan, what does Coffman have to say about the Republican frontrunner now?”
While we’re talking about Trump’s disturbing waffling on David Duke and the KKK, let’s not forget that Marco Rubio – Coffman’s candidate of choice – was introduced yesterday by former Senator George Allen. Allen infamously hurled a racial slur at a Democratic staffer during his failed reelection campaign, kept a noose in his office, and was exposed for praising the confederate flag.
https://twitter.com/jonathanhsinger/status/704011829572272129
All this is to say, the troubling association between racially charged behavior and leading Republicans is not isolated to Donald Trump. So what say Coffman and House Republican leadership now?