--- title: David Duke Says He and Trump Have the Same Message description: Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke is running for Senate in Louisiana, and he says Donald Trump's popularity is helping him in the race. canonical: https://time.com/4514350/david-duke-donald-trump-senate-louisiana/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-30T12:00:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:07.040Z article:section: Politics og:title: David Duke Says He and Trump Have the Same Message og:description: Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke is running for Senate in Louisiana, and he says Donald Trump's popularity is helping him in the race. og:url: https://time.com/4514350/david-duke-donald-trump-senate-louisiana/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt468bf010e3afcd1c/6988a7edcd1bba40c5702814/trump16.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: APTOPIX Campaign 2016 Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: David Duke Says He and Trump Have the Same Message twitter:description: Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke is running for Senate in Louisiana, and he says Donald Trump's popularity is helping him in the race. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt468bf010e3afcd1c/6988a7edcd1bba40c5702814/trump16.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # David Duke Says He and Donald Trump Have the Same Message ## Video: Trump Refuses To Disavow David Duke Or KKK on SOTU [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Refuses To Disavow David Duke Or KKK on SOTU](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/F9PfjTVT.m3u8) (1:10)  _Published 2016-02-28_  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Sep 30, 2016 12:00 PM UTC  Donald Trump is seen through the audience before participating in a roundtable event in Miami, on Sept. 27, 2016. Donald Trump is seen through the audience before participating in a roundtable event in Miami, on Sept. 27, 2016.John Locher—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Sep 30, 2016 12:00 PM UTC Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke is [running for Senate in Louisiana](http://time.com/4419382/david-duke-ku-klux-klan-senate-louisiana/?iid=sr-link3), and he says Donald Trump’s popularity is helping him in the race. “I love it,” Duke [told the LA Times](http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-david-duke-20160928-snap-story.html). “The fact that Donald Trump’s doing so well, it proves that I’m winning. I am winning.” Duke also told the LA Times that Trump’s proposed policies, like building a wall along the border with Mexico and [banning Muslims from entering the country](http://time.com/4366912/donald-trump-orlando-shooting-muslim-ban/?iid=sr-link1), show the country is open to a white power message. “He’s talking about it in a visceral way,” Duke said. “Donald Trump is talking implicitly. I’m talking explicitly.” After initially [hesitating to disavow Duke](http://time.com/4240268/donald-trump-kkk-david-duke/?iid=sr-link1) or reject Duke’s endorsement, Trump now distances himself from the white nationalist leader. “We disavow any groups associated with a message of hate,” said Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks. Read more about Trump and white nationalists in TIME’s April magazine story on the subject, ‘[The Billionaire and the Bigots](http://time.com/4293564/the-billionaire-and-the-bigots/?iid=sr-link2).’ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4514350/david-duke-donald-trump-senate-louisiana/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4514350/david-duke-donald-trump-senate-louisiana/"},"headline":"David Duke Says He and Donald Trump Have the Same Message","datePublished":"2016-09-30T12:00:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:55:07.040Z","description":"Duke says his message explicit while Trump's is implicit","url":"https://time.com/4514350/david-duke-donald-trump-senate-louisiana/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt468bf010e3afcd1c/6988a7edcd1bba40c5702814/trump16.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt468bf010e3afcd1c/6988a7edcd1bba40c5702814/trump16.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"APTOPIX Campaign 2016 Trump","caption":"APTOPIX Campaign 2016 Trump","creditText":"John Locher—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4514350/david-duke-donald-trump-senate-louisiana/","name":"David Duke Says He and Donald Trump Have the Same Message"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump Refuses To Disavow David Duke Or KKK on SOTU","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/F9PfjTVT/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-28T16:21:37.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/F9PfjTVT.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4514350/david-duke-donald-trump-senate-louisiana/","duration":"PT1M10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4514350/david-duke-donald-trump-senate-louisiana/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```