Image by Twitter/YouTube

David Duke wants President-elect Donald Trump to go after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, the white supremacist wrote tweeted on November 25.

The mayor of NYC, Bill de Blasio (born Warren Wilhelm Jr.), is one disrespectful/hateful man – Sure hope Trump puts him in his place.#MAGA pic.twitter.com/HpZzWsi6AG

— David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) November 18, 2016

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

De Blasio’s given name Warren Wilhelm, Jr. He was named after his father, who committed suicide in 1979, and has said took on his mother’s maiden name to honor her. How hateful and disrespectful, Duke implies, that someone with a Germanic-sounding name would proudly carry a Torah scroll.

“There’s a lot about NYC that the KKK probably hates,” De Blasio responded in a statement from spokeswoman Jessica Ramos. “Of our many diverse communities, Mr. Duke chose our relationship with the Jewish community to single out,” she wrote in her e-mailed response. “We should take a minute to be proud of that fact. And after this minute, we go back to work.”

De Blasio has denounced Trump and Duke is one of his ardent supporters.

De Blasio, who met with Trump last week in Manhattan’s Trump Tower, has said that the city under his leadership will resist federal anti-immigration proposals and that the president-elect’s rhetoric on the campaign trail was out of step with New Yorkers’ beliefs.

“We will fight anything we see as undermining our values. And here is my promise to you as your mayor – we will use all the tools at our disposal to stand up for our people,” he told a crowd of sanitation workers gathered at Manhattan’s Cooper Union last week.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount