Rep. Steve Scalise admits to talking at a white supremacist convention

Amerikka the beautiful

Steve Scalise Cops To Speaking At White Supremacist Convention Years Ago

Via NPR

Rep. Steve Scalise, the recently elected House majority whip, has acknowledged that he spoke at a gathering of white supremacists more than a decade ago, calling it “a mistake” that he regrets.

“Twelve years ago, I spoke to many different Louisiana groups as a state representative, trying to build support for legislation that focused on cutting wasteful state spending, eliminating government corruption, and stopping tax hikes,” Scalise, R-La., said in a statement. “One of the many groups that I spoke to regarding this critical legislation was a group whose views I wholeheartedly condemn.

“It was a mistake I regret, and I emphatically oppose the divisive racial and religious views groups like these hold.”

The remarks were the first acknowledgment by the newly elected House majority whip of his presence at the gathering. He previously said he didn’t remember speaking before a convention of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization in 2002. But, if he did, he said, he was not aware of the kind of positions the group took.

House Speaker John Boehner, in a statement, defended Scalise.

“More than a decade ago, Representative Scalise made an error in judgment, and he was right to acknowledge it was wrong and inappropriate,” Boehner said in a statement.

Boehner said Scalise has his full confidence as the GOP whip.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which classifies EURO as a white nationalist group, the organization was founded by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

In an interview with the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Scalise, whose position makes him the third highest-ranking Republican in the House, said that at the time of his speech, he had no idea the group was associated with Duke, and had he known, he never would have appeared before them.

Yeah, sure.

Image via AP