The Ku Klux Klan praised Donald Trump's message of making America great again in a full-page piece on its official newspaper, prompting the Republican presidential nominee's campaign to issue a sharp rebuke of the paper.
"'Make American Great Again' is a catchy slogan and we are beginning to see it and hear it everywhere," wrote Pastor Thomas Robb, national director of The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, in the fall 2016 edition of the KKK's quarterly newspaper, The Crusader. "But can it happen? Can American really be great again? This is what we will soon find out!
"While Trump wants to make America great again, we have to ask ourselves, 'What made America great in the first place?' The short answer to that is simple: America was great not because of what our forefathers did – but because of who our forefathers were. America was founded as a white Christian republic. And as a white Christian republic it became great."
In a statement issued by Trump's campaign, the GOP presidential nominee denounced the article and the tacit support of the Klan.
"This publication is repulsive and their views do not represent the tens of millions of Americans who are uniting behind our campaign," the statement said.
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Under a bright red headline and around a black-and-white photo of the GOP presidential nominee, Robb decried what he described as the perversion of American morals, as evidenced by the 2015 Supreme Court ruling in support of gay marriage and the rise of gay culture.
"The reality is that it is strangers which have invaded our land ... now dictate to us policies which are foreign to our traditions, our spirit and our faith," Robb wrote. "Over the past 50 years we have seen the cultural morals of our people completely gutted. There is no perversion that is not now fully embraced."
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Despite the prominence of the pro-Trump article, however, Robb told The Washington Post that The Crusader had not officially endorsed Trump.
"Overall, we like his nationalist views and his words about shutting down the border to illegal immigrants," he told the newspaper. "It's not an endorsement because, like anybody, there's things you disagree with. But he kind of reflects what's happening throughout the world. There seems to be a surge of nationalism worldwide as nationals reclaim their borders."
It's not the first time Trump has dealt with controversy over praise from KKK leaders. He came under fire in February after he failed to disavow prominent white supremacist David Duke in a CNN interview after the former KKK grand wizard called voting for anyone but Trump "treason to (white) heritage."
He later blamed the failure on a problem with his earpiece.
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