It may be a hard fact to wrap your head around — Donald Trump is president-elect of the United States. This whole election cycle has had people of every political affiliation chiming in with a hot-take or opinion, and as Trump prepares to relish in his victory, one reaction in particular seems to sum up just why so many people find the polarizing Republican candidate's win so disheartening: former KKK leader David Duke's reaction to Donald Trump being president-elect is, quite simply put, terrifying. In a tweet posted by Duke at 2:14 in the morning on Nov. 9, Duke not only called Trump's victory "exciting," but also boasted about the part he played in helping Trump get to the White House.
Duke has been live-tweeting his support for Donald Trump throughout election night, and has been adamant about one very important thing — that Trump couldn't have snagged his win had it not been for Duke's "huge role." That's right, a white supremacist and former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, is taking full credit for helping boost a man who will soon be the leader of our country into power. Quite frankly, it's hard not to be upset over the fact that our next president of the United States finds champions in people like Duke.
It's worth noting that Donald Trump hasn't confirmed Duke's role in any part of his campaign — he's denied knowing who Duke even is — but that hasn't stopped the former KKK member from voicing his strong support all night long.
And while Trump may not have aligned himself in anyway with Duke or what Duke stands for, it's still more than a little alarming for Americans to know that our next president is one so proudly lauded by a group notorious for its hateful, bigoted beliefs.
One thing is for certain — if Trump wants to assuage any American fear that he doesn't believe in working toward a more equal and respectful nation, tweets like Duke's certainly aren't doing him any favors.
