Trump says he doesn't know why his campaign energized the "alt-right." Don't believe him.
The following statement is from Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
"During his campaign, Mr. Trump pretended that he didn’t know anything about long-time white supremacist leader David Duke. Now, he’s pretending that he has no idea why his election has energized the newest incarnation of the white supremacist movement, the so-called “alt-right." The reason he’s energized the alt-right is simple: He’s been playing its tune from the day he announced his campaign and called Mexican immigrants rapists. His proposal to ban Muslim immigration, his talk of mass deportations, his attacks on “political correctness,” it’s all been music to the ears of a movement that envisions a white America — and that’s exactly the America that the “alt-right” wants to see."
