The Google engineer who was fired after penning a controversial memo claiming women were 'biologically' less likely to succeed in technology has sparked a new row after arguing the KKK has 'cool' names

The Google engineer who was fired after penning a controversial memo claiming women were 'biologically' less likely to succeed in technology has sparked a new row after arguing the KKK has 'cool' names.

James Damore issued a poll on his Twitter account yesterday saying: 'The KKK is horrible and I don't support them in any way, but can we admit that their internal title names are cool, e.g. "Grand Wizard"?'

The since-deleted Tweet was accompanied by the possible responses: 'Yes,' 'No, the names aren't cool,' 'No, that's racist,' and 'No, other'.

Twitter users were quick to voice their outrage at the social media message.

Taltos Girl‏ said: 'There is literally nothing on this earth that could push me into the KKK. They disgust me even more than I disgust them.'

Joe Alamo‏ added: 'Seems like you're trying to do is normalize the KKK in the same way that the "alt-right" tries to normalize white supremacy.'

But not everyone was outraged by the Tweet.

One commenter said: 'People are deliberately misreading @JamesADamore. He didn't articulate himself well, but he wasn't saying he thought the Klan is cool.'

James Damore issued a poll on his Twitter account yesterday saying: 'The KKK is horrible and I don’t support them in any way, but can we admit that their internal title names are cool, e.g. "Grand Wizard"?'

In a later series of Tweets, Damore attempted to defend himself saying: 'My attempt to raise the issue of why some people are attracted to pure evil like the KKK, gave many the wrong impression.

'Understanding what attracts some people to these vile organizations can help us better prevent that from happening.

'In retrospect though, a Twitter poll was likely not the best way to spark the conversation on this rightfully sensitive issue.'

In a later series of Tweets, Damore attempted to defend himself saying: 'My attempt to raise the issue of why some people are attracted to pure evil like the KKK, gave many the wrong impression'

Software engineer James Damore was terminated by Google last month for violating the company's code of conduct.

In a statement, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said at the time: 'portions of the memo violate our code of conduct and cross the line by advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace.'

Damore's controversial 3,300-word manifesto - which was first published by technology news site Motherboard - divided opinion since it went viral on social media.

Damore, who graduated from Harvard in 2013 with a doctoral degree in systems biology, had noted that women could not get ahead at Google because of 'biological differences'.

It prompted backlash from Google's new head of diversity, Danielle Brown, who denounced the memo in her own note to staff.

Twitter users were quick to voice their outrage at the social media message

She said the memo 'advanced incorrect assumptions about gender' and did not display a viewpoint 'that I or this company endorses, promotes or encourages'.

Many have argued that the engineer's memo was proof of the sexist, male-driven structures that Silicon Valley has become known for in recent months.

Others said Damore's concern that the company was too left-leaning was legitimate. Some also claim he is the voice of many conservative employees who are too scared to speak out against Google's politically correct policies because they fear they will lose their jobs.

MailOnline has contacted James Damore for comment.