David Duke Makes It to Primetime for Louisiana Senate Debate — at Black College

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By Daniel J. Solomon October 21, 2016

After Wednesday’s debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, it might have seemed that we wouldn’t see the likes of it for a long time. But two weeks from now, Louisiana white supremacist and long-shot Senate candidate David Duke will take the debate stage with five of his rivals.

After the story broke Thursday, Duke posted to Twitter to brag about his success, “Important News! I qualified for the U.S. Senate most important debate in Louisiana on Nov 2. I can’t wait to tell truth nobody else dares!”

In a later Tweet, he complained about a previous debate to which he was not invited, “Five Establishment sellouts questioned by media sellouts. Time to put an end to this disgusting cuckoldry, see you at the next debate #LaSen.”

Duke, an ‘alt-right’ darling and a super fan of the Republican nominee, made the cut thanks to a poll taken this week by a Fox affiliate in the state, which showed him just clearing the bar of 5% support.

In an ironic twist, the event will take place at New Orleans’ Dillard University, a historically black university.

“Dillard is pretty supportive of Black Lives Matter, and I’ve been pretty critical of them,” Duke said, in comments to the Acadiana Advocate.

Louisiana is home to a unique electoral contest known as “the jungle primary,” in which candidates from all parties compete, with the top two vote getters moving to the general election. Duke is running as a Republican.

Currently, the field is led by Republican John Kennedy and Democrat Foster Campbell.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

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