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Ron Paul Does Not Mind His Racist Supporters
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 26, 2011
Modified Dec 26, 2011
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 26, 2011
Modified Dec 26, 2011
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Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul has a loyal base of supporters. We know this as a fact, because who else could inspire people to e-mail us things like, "Your article entitled '3 reasons Ron Paul [will never, ever be president]...etc' is complete garbage. Do you get paid to write that nonsense? Just wondering. Oh, did I mention you're a liar? Just checking." But now, as he emerges as an underdog favorite among those who hate big government, spending on the war, and pot persecution, Paul has to come face to face with charges of racism, in both his newsletters and supporters.
The NY Times looks at Paul's rabid fans, noting that white nationalist website Stormfront director says many Stormfront members are volunteering for the campaign (a Stormfront commenter explains, "I understand he wins many fans because his monetary policy would hurt Jews"):
The white supremacists, survivalists and anti-Zionists who have rallied behind his candidacy have not exactly been warmly welcomed. “I wouldn’t be happy with that,” Mr. Paul said in an interview Friday when asked about getting help from volunteers with anti-Jewish or antiblack views.
But he did not disavow their support. “If they want to endorse me, they’re endorsing what I do or say — it has nothing to do with endorsing what they say,” said Mr. Paul, who is now running strong in Iowa for the Republican nomination.
And, in the past few weeks, Paul has been questioned about monthly newsletters put out under his name—Ron Paul’s Freedom Report, the Ron Paul Political Report, the Ron Paul Survival Report, and the Ron Paul Investment Letter. James Kirchick's Weekly Standard feature suggests, "It is Paul’s lucrative and decades-long promotion of bigotry and conspiracy theories, for which he has yet to account fully, and his continuing espousal of extremist views, that should make him unwelcome at any respectable forum, not only those hosted by Jewish organizations":
“Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks,” read a typical article from the June 1992 “Special Issue on Racial Terrorism,” a supplement to the Ron Paul Political Report. Racial apocalypse was the most persistent theme of the newsletters; a 1990 issue warned of “The Coming Race War,” and an article the following year about disturbances in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C., was entitled “Animals Take Over the D.C. Zoo.” Paul alleged that Martin Luther King Jr., “the world-class philanderer who beat up his paramours,” had also “seduced underage girls and boys.” The man who would later proclaim King a “hero” attacked Ronald Reagan for signing legislation creating the federal holiday in his name, complaining, “We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day.”
Paul has apologized for the statements in the newsletter, and a statement from a spokesman said, "[T\]here were multiple ghost writers involved and he does not know who penned the particular offensive sections... Ultimately, because the writing appeared under his name and he should have better policed it, Dr. Paul has assumed responsibility, apologized for his lack of oversight and disavowed the offensive material."
Still, this video from 1995 shows him taking credit for his newsletter, The Ron Paul Survival Report:
Tagged
election 2012
newsletters
Politics
racist
ron paul
ron paul survival report
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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