Scalise: I 'regret' speech to white supremacy group

Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise is in full damage control mode and has publicly apologized for a 2002 speech to a white supremacist group.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders also issued statements of support for Scalise in an organized effort to limit the political fallout from the scandal and keep the Louisiana Republican in his job as House majority whip.


In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Scalise called his appearance before the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO) — an extremist group founded by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke — a “mistake I regret” and added that he rejected the organization’s racist ideology.

As he has over the past two days, Scalise said he made the EURO speech only to drum up support for a tax proposal he was then pushing in the state legislature.

“Twelve years ago, I spoke to many different Louisiana groups as a state representative, trying to build support for legislation that focused on cutting wasteful state spending, eliminating government corruption, and stopping tax hikes,” Scalise said in his latest statement.

“One of the many groups that I spoke to regarding this critical legislation was a group whose views I wholeheartedly condemn. It was a mistake I regret, and I emphatically oppose the divisive racial and religious views groups like these hold. I am very disappointed that anyone would try to infer otherwise for political gain. As a Catholic, these groups hold views that are vehemently opposed to my own personal faith, and I reject that kind of hateful bigotry. Those who know me best know I have always been passionate about helping, serving, and fighting for every family that I represent. And I will continue to do so.”

In his own statement — his first since the scandal began — Boehner called Scalise “a man of high integrity and good character” and offered his continued support for the Louisiana Republican.

“More than a decade ago, Representative Scalise made an error in judgment, and he was right to acknowledge it was wrong and inappropriate,” Boehner said. “Like many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I know Steve to be a man of high integrity and good character. He has my full confidence as our whip, and he will continue to do great and important work for all Americans.”

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Scalise “acknowledged he made a mistake and has condemned the views that organization espouses. I’ve known him as a friend for many years and I know that he does not share the beliefs of that organization.”

Rep. Charles Boustany, another Louisiana Republican, offered support for Scalise as well.

Scalise, who was first elected to leadership in June, is personally calling GOP lawmakers to explain the issue to them and prevent any collapse in support, said Republican insiders.

Scalise is also trying to line up surrogates to speak out in his defense, and new statements of support are expected to be released throughout the day, according to sources close to the Louisiana Republican.

For now, Scalise is not encountering much resistance from his colleagues, although that could change if new revelations appear, say the sources.

Scalise faces a critical test over the next week as his future political viability in the House Republican Conference will be hashed out. Members will quickly decide whether Scalise is a personal liability or just a distraction.

Scalise, the No. 3 House Republican, is already getting hit from both the left and right after his office admitted it was “likely” that he spoke to the white supremacist group at a hotel in a suburb of New Orleans.

On Tuesday, a top aide to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called Scalise’s connection to the group “deeply troubling,” although Democrats have stopped short of calling for Scalise to step down, at least for now.

“Whip Scalise’s involvement with a group classified by the Anti-Defamation League as anti-Semitic and the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group is deeply troubling for a top Republican leader in the House,” said Drew Hammill, Pelosi’s spokesman. “However, actions speak louder than whatever Steve Scalise said to that group in 2002. Just this year, House Republicans have refused to restore the Voting Rights Act or pass comprehensive immigration reform, and leading Republican members are now actively supporting in the federal courts efforts by another known extremist group, the American Center for Law and Justice, which is seeking to overturn the president’s immigration executive actions.”

Hammill added: “Speaker Boehner’s silence on this matter is yet another example of his consistent failure to stand up to the most extreme elements of his party.”

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also condemned Scalise and quoted popular conservative blogger Erick Erickson, who raised questions about Scalise’s “judgment” in appearing before the extremist group. Both Erickson and the DCCC wondered how Boehner, who faces a leadership election in one week, will handle the revelation that Scalise addressed the Duke-linked outfit.

“Steve Scalise chose to cheerlead for a group of KKK members and neo-Nazis at a white supremacist rally and now his fellow House Republican leaders can’t even speak up and say he was wrong,” said Josh Schwerin, chief spokesman for the DCCC. “While David Duke defends Scalise, Speaker Boehner and Leader McCarthy are refusing to condemn Scalise’s choice of allies. Republicans in Congress might talk about improving their terrible standing with nonwhite voters, but it’s clear their leadership has a history of embracing anti-Semitic, racist hate groups. Republicans are off to a banner start for their new Congress — on the path to break their own record for least popular Congress in history.”

Scalise told the New Orleans Times-Picayune on Monday that he “didn’t know who all of these groups were and I detest any kind of hate group.

“For anyone to suggest that I was involved with a group like that is insulting and ludicrous,” he said.

Scalise has gotten some support from minority politicians from both parties, including Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), who is African-American. Richmond told the Times-Picayune, “I don’t think Steve Scalise has a racist bone in his body.” Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal, the son of Indian immigrants, has also backed Scalise.

But Scalise’s record in Louisiana is now being closely reviewed for any signs of racial bias. As a state representative in Baton Rouge, for example, Scalise voted twice against establishing Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday as a holiday. His congressional leadership office has yet to explain those votes.

And in 1997, Scalise voted against a bill to prohibit hate crimes based on race, class or sexual orientation.