Queue up “Thank You For Being A Friend,” because Donald Trump’s pals are flooding Iowa voters with robocalls in his support as the first nominating contest in the nation approaches.
The catch? These friends happen to be from a white nationalist super PAC featuring the who’s who of right-wing extremists.
Portions of the message some Iowa voters have received read more like a Breitbart comments section than a political ad. Check out the text below:
“The American National Super PAC makes this call to support Donald Trump.
‘My name is Reverend Ronald Tan, host of the Christian radio talk show program For God and Country. First Corinthians states: God chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise and God chose the weak things of this world to shame the strong. For the Iowa caucuses, please support Donald Trump. He is courageous and he speaks his mind. God Bless.’
‘I’m Jared Taylor with American Renaissance. I urge you to vote for Donald Trump because he is the one candidate who points out that we should accept immigrants who are good for America. We don’t need Muslims. We need smart, well-educated white people who will assimilate to our culture. Vote Trump.’
‘I am William Johnson, a farmer and a white nationalist. Support Donald Trump. I paid for this through the super PAC. [Telephone] (213) 718-3908. This call is not authorized by Donald Trump.'”
As TPM notes, among the names are founders of white supremacist literature and the spokesman for an extremist group cited in the manifesto by the shooter who massacred nine Black churchgoers in cold blood in Charleston last June:
Taylor is the founder of the white supremacist magazine American Renaissance. The robocall included two more endorsements from a conservative Christian talk show host and the head of the white nationalist American Freedom Party.
Reverend Donald Tan, a Filipino-American minister and host of Christian talk show program “For God and Country,” encouraged Iowans to vote for Trump by citing scripture.
“First Corinthians states ‘God chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise and God chose the weak things of this world to shame the strong,’” he says on the call. “For the Iowa caucuses please support Donald Trump.”
The robocall was closed out by American Freedom Party chairman William Johnson, who identified himself only as “a farmer and white nationalist.” Johnson, who founded the PAC that paid for the robocall, notes that Trump did not authorize it.
The American Freedom Party had issued a press release Friday announcing the launch of the robocall campaign, calling Trump its “Great White Hope.”
Jared Taylor also serves as a spokesman for the Council of Conservative Citizens, which was cited in the manifesto written by Charleston shooter Dylann Roof as the group that opened his eyes to what he saw as the scourge of black-on-white crime in America. Roof went on a shooting rampage at a historically black church in June, killing nine parishioners.
Sure, the call from the white nationalist PAC notes that it was “not authorized by Donald Trump,” but Trump hasn’t exactly condemned the support he’s received from white nationalists either.
Multiple sources, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that monitors hate groups, have previously highlighted the overwhelming praise Trump has received from extremists since the launch of his campaign last summer.
In fact, the founder of Stormfront, “the most prominent American white supremacist website,” recently said “Trump has helped drive a steady increase in traffic in recent months – including 30-40 percent spikes when the businessman makes news on immigration or Muslims – that is compelling him to upgrade his servers.”
Meanwhile, when questioned about the support he’s received from the likes of these groups, Trump simply said, “People like me across the board. Everybody likes me.”
Some condemnation.
