--- title: KKK Leader Says Donald Trump is a Great Recruiting Tool description: Donald Trump is inspiring Ku Klux Klan members, and his candid rhetoric is being used to recruit more white supremacists. canonical: https://time.com/4156821/donald-trump-kkk/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-21T15:41:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:42:15.286Z article:section: Politics og:title: KKK Leader Says Donald Trump is a Great Recruiting Tool og:description: “They like that he’s not willing to back down" og:url: https://time.com/4156821/donald-trump-kkk/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt90ea47cc5330b47c/69887656cd1bba5b706fea04/gettyimages-501657770.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump Holds Rally In Mesa, Arizona og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: KKK Leader Says Donald Trump is a Great Recruiting Tool twitter:description: “They like that he’s not willing to back down" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt90ea47cc5330b47c/69887656cd1bba5b706fea04/gettyimages-501657770.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # KKK Leader Finds Donald Trump a Great Recruiting Tool > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=a1d5a1df-8200-4b1b-ac82-73ebd55bd949&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Donald Trump: 'I Have to Win' [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump: 'I Have to Win'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RaDVQ2PJ.m3u8) (2:30)  _Published 2015-12-09. Watch Time magazine's interview with Donald Trump for Person of the Year_  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Dec 21, 2015 3:41 PM UTC  Donald Trump waves to the crowd as he arrives at a campaign event at the International Air Response facility on Dec. 16 in Mesa, Arizona. Donald Trump waves to the crowd as he arrives at a campaign event at the International Air Response facility on Dec. 16 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Dec 21, 2015 3:41 PM UTC Donald Trump is inspiring white supremacists, according to a national organizer of a leading Ku Klux Klan group — and [his candid rhetoric is being used to recruit more](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/12/21/how-donald-trump-is-breathing-life-into-americas-dying-white-supremacist-movement/?tid=sm%5Ffb) of them. The KKK is using the Republican presidential frontrunner as an outreach tool, Rachel Pendergraft, the national membership coordinator for the Knights Party, told The Washington _Post_. Trump’s candidacy, which has been characterized by often divisive nativist rhetoric, has “electrified” some members, the newspaper reported Monday. “They like the overall momentum of his rallies and his campaign,” Pendergraft said. “They like that he’s not willing to back down. He says what he believes and he stands on that.” The KKK organizer said the group uses the headlines Trump makes to start conversations with separatists about issues that are important to the white supremacist movement. “One of the things that our organization really stresses with our membership is we want them to educate themselves on issues, but we also want them to be able to learn how to open up a conversation with other people,” Pendergraft said. \[[_Washington Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/12/21/how-donald-trump-is-breathing-life-into-americas-dying-white-supremacist-movement/?tid=sm%5Ffb)\] ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ] I see your face. [ MUSIC ] My crowds have gotten larger. They've gotten even more energized to a point where we go into a place, whether it's New Hampshire, whether it's Iowa, whether it's Columbus, Ohio. No matter where I go, we have many more people than we anticipated. And the other thing I see now that I didn't see as much, tremendous energy, tremendous spirit. They want to make America great again. It's very simple. They want to make America great again. [ CROSSTALK ] [ APPLAUSE ] United States, Donald Trump. I am less politically correct than you're supposed to be and I will tell you, I don't do it purposely. I could be so politically correct you would sit with me and people would say, wow, he is such a fine person, he is a, I just don't have time for it. Political correctness takes a lot of time, takes a tremendous amount of time. We are lead by very, very stupid people. Mexico sends it's people. Oh I don't know what I said. They're not sending their best. I don't remember. Bringing drugs. Out of hundreds of deals that I've done. They're bringing crime. I've taken advantage of the laws of this country. They're rapists. We don't win anymore. And some, I assume, are good people. I'm really rich. I'll show you that myself. I was called by a major, major A reporter, whose name I won't use. He said, " How does it feel ?" I said, " How does what feel ?" " What you've done has never been done in the history of United States politics. I say, " What do you mean by that ?" He said, " Nobody has ever done what you've done. The energy, the crowds, the whole concept of what you've done has never been done ." And I said, " Well, what have I done? I haven't won ." If I don't win it's just a waste of time as far as I'm concerned. I will consider it a giant waste of time. He said, no you're wrong, if you don't win you have still done something that's never been done before. I tend to disagree with him, I think I have to win. I'm about winning. 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