Former Black Panther Charles Barron endorsed by David Duke

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David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, has announced his support for Charles Barron, an African-American and former Black Panther, in the race to represent Brooklyn’s 8th Congressional district.

Duke is the white supremacist, pro-Christian founder of the Louisiana chapter of the KKK and is a former Louisiana State Representative.  His most notable political endeavors have been running in the ’88 and ’92 presidential primaries and a surprisingly strong showing in a 1991 Louisiana gubernatorial race. He has also been the subject of 2012 presidential run rumors.

Even though Duke is from Louisiana and has little to do with New York politics, he still insisted on making an eight and a half minute video declaring his endorsement for Democratic candidate Charles Barron over his competitor, the more mainstream Hakeem Jeffries. Duke’s affinity for Barron can be directly linked to his strong anti-Israeli positions.

Both Barron, who has called the government of Israel “the biggest terrorist in the world,” and Duke have a have a history of making comments deemed Anti-Semitic by many observers.  Barron has also stated that “Robert Mugabe is my hero, and guess what, so is Muammar Gadhafi,” in a November 2011 speech in Brooklyn.

Although he still believes in the separation of races, Duke feels Barron is the best candidate for Congress.

“In a race for Congress between an anti-Zionist black activist and a black activist who is a bought and paid for Zionist Uncle Tom, I’ll take the anti-Zionist any day,” said Duke in his ‘endorsement.’

“We’re staying focused — and we demand respect for our campaign,” Barron told the New York Daily News in response to Duke’s message. “I don’t think that’s a campaign issue. I don’t think it’s intelligent.”

Jeffries campaign spokesman Lupe Todd also weighed in. “Hate and extreme rhetoric have no place in our society. We denounce David Duke’s remarks in [their] entirety and urge the other candidate in this race to do the same,” he said in an official statement.

Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals