In 1992, David Duke, a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, was seeking to be put on the presidential ballot in Wisconsin. As this was an embarassment for the Republican party, they sought to block Duke from the ballot. Scott Walker was working for the Republican Party of Wisconsin at the time and appeared with Duke on Milwaukee Public Television's "Smith & Company" to discuss the matter.

So, seems like an easy gig, right? Go on the show, condemn Duke as an extremist, racist, nut job and say his views aren't representative of the Republican Party.

Instead, Walker went on the show and made a point of saying that he was condemning Duke for his past involement in the KKK and not for "issues" he was then bringing-up. In fact, Walker went out of way to say that issues Duke was talking were not extreme, saying:

The distinction we're making is not one of saying his issues are extreme, they certainly are not.

Allow me to remind you who we're talking about: David Freakin' Duke! Trying to find something that he is saying that is not extreme or legitimate is extremely difficult task, which makes Walker's qualified condemnation of Duke all the more absurd and troubling.

So what are some of the post-KKK Duke "issues" that Walker says are not extreme?

A year earlier, the New York Times wrote:

Mr. Duke insists that he has undergone a Christian conversion that steered him away from his past bigotry. But he continues to make comments that distinctly echo the views he espoused when the swastika and the burning cross were his favorite political symbols.

Or about this Headline from an AP article in 1990?

Senate Candidate David Duke Fanning the Flames of Racism

Or, how about this Duke gem from 1989:



"The white politician in the North would rather embrace a black man than one of their own kind."

Only a complete nihilistic fruitcake would charactorize David Dukes at the time as not being extreme. (Yes, I'm saying Walker is a nihilistic fruitcake.)

Walker also makes the hilariously loony argument that David Duke was the "creation of the media." Yes, it was all a conspiracy of the leftwing media! Recruit a former KKK grand wizard, have him get elected to public office in Louisiana, and have him win the primary for governor. Yes, that sounds like a "media creation."

Attached are some excerpts of Walker's statements. The complete video is available here.