澳彩开奖 Hatewatch: Rep. Scalise鈥檚 denials are not believable
The incoming majority whip in the U.S. House says he didn鈥檛 know the views of a racist group founded by neo-Nazi David Duke when he spoke to it in 2002. But as the 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Mark Potok writes, his claim is impossible to believe. Scalise was a state representative and an aspiring national politician at the time, and EURO was well known as a hate group led by America鈥檚 most famous white supremacist.
Faced with an exploding crisis sparked by the revelation that the No. 3 Republican in the House gave a speech to a well-known group of white supremacists and neo-Nazis a dozen years ago, the GOP in Rep. Steve Scalise鈥檚 home state of Louisiana is doubling down, calling the entire episode a mere 鈥渕anufactured blogger story.鈥�
Really? A manufactured blogger story?
Scalise claimed yesterday that he had no idea of the views promoted by the听European-American Unity and Rights Organization听(EURO), whose workshop he addressed in 2002 at a hotel in Metairie, La. And he was backed by an array of Louisiana Republicans including state GOP chair Roger Villere Jr., who described Scalise as 鈥渁 man of great integrity who embodies his Christian faith in his life.鈥� Villere dismissed the story听听by Louisiana blogger Lamar White Jr. as 鈥渁n attempt to score political points by slandering the character of a good man.鈥�
But Scalise鈥檚 claim of ignorance is almost impossible to believe. He was a state representative and an aspiring national politician at the time, and EURO already was well known as a hate group led by America鈥檚 most famous white supremacist.
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