In response to 2024 Republicans’ ongoing flirtation with white supremacy, DNC National Press Secretary Sarafina Chitika released the following statement: 

“The widespread refusal among Republican presidential candidates to reject white supremacy is a terrifying reflection of the full scale MAGA takeover of the GOP, led by Donald Trump and championed by other 2024 candidates. Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy are all competing in a disgraceful race to the bottom, embracing hate and bigotry and abandoning the core values of the American people: equality, freedom, and justice for all. The American people will once again reject the dark vision for our country that the GOP continues to peddle at the ballot box this year.”

Ramaswamy REFUSED to denounce white supremacy after receiving an official endorsement from former Iowa congressman Steve King — a white supremacist who left Congress in disgrace for his extreme and hateful views — who Ramaswamy also campaigned with last month. 

Meryl Kornfield, Washington Post: “I asked Vivek if he condemned white supremacy. Vivek said to ‘stop picking on this farce of some figment that exists at some infinitesimally small fringe.’ He said he condemns ‘vicious racial discrimination’ but would not ‘bend the knee’ and condemn white supremacy.”

The Hill: “Disgraced former Iowa Rep. Steve King endorses Ramaswamy” 

“Former Iowa Rep. Steve King endorsed GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Tuesday. King lost his House seat in the 2020 primary after he was stripped of his committee assignments after questioning why the terms ‘white supremacist’ and ‘white nationalist’ had become offensive. King, a believer in the white supremacist ‘Great Replacement’ conspiracy theory, was repeatedly affiliated with white nationalism while in office.”

CBS News: “Steve King, the former Republican Iowa congressman with a history of racist and controversial statements, reemerged on the political scene this week, campaigning with Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Wednesday.” 

A day after Ramaswamy received the endorsement of white supremacist Steve King, he’s back on the trail denying the existence of white supremacy and claiming to be unfamiliar with Dylann Roof, the white supremacist who killed nine Black members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2015. 

NBC News: “In tense, wide-ranging remarks to reporters on Tuesday night, Vivek Ramaswamy called white supremacy a myth, cited actor Jussie Smollett as evidence, and said he didn’t know who Dylann Roof is.” 

“Toward the end of the press gaggle, another reporter asked Ramaswamy, ‘Mr. Ramaswamy, how can you seriously cite Jussie Smollett when talking about white supremacy when people like Dylann Roof exist?’

“Ramaswamy responded: ‘I don’t know who that is.’” 

Donald Trump has a long record of rubbing shoulders with and defending white supremacists, calling neo-Nazis and white supremacists who marched at Charlottesville “very fine people” — all while using the power of his administration to protect the legacy of the Confederacy.

Axios: “Former President Trump dined and conversed with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Tuesday night, according to two sources familiar with the matter.”

The Guardian: “Donald Trump declined to condemn white supremacists and violent rightwing groups during a contentious first presidential debate, instead urging a far-right group known for street brawling to ‘stand by’ and arguing that ‘somebody’s got to do something’ about the left.”

CNN: “Trump’s defense of the ‘very fine people’ at Charlottesville white nationalist march has David Duke gushing”

CNN: “President Donald Trump on Thursday denounced the removal of monuments to Confederate figures as ‘sad’ and ‘so foolish,’ days after white supremacists and neo-Nazis took to Charlottesville, Virginia, to violently protest the planned removal of a statue of the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.”

TIME: “Donald Trump Refuses to Condemn KKK, Disavow David Duke Endorsement”

The Hill: “President Trump said Wednesday he ‘will not even consider’ renaming Army bases that were named for Confederate military leaders after top Pentagon officials indicated recently they are open to the idea. In a series of tweets, Trump argued the bases have become part of U.S. history and should not be ‘tampered with.’”

Nikki Haley made vile comments on slavery after being asked a simple question about the cause of the Civil War — and she has a long, shameful record of supporting the legacy of the Confederacy as South Carolina’s governor. 

Haley: “What do you want me to say about slavery? Next question.”

Haley: “We know the Civil War was about slavery, but it was also more than that. It was about the freedoms of every individual. It was about the role of government. … We stand by that.”

The Messenger: “Haley in First Campaign Event After Controversial Comments: ‘Civil War Was About Slavery … but It Was Also More’”

Haley: “You know for those groups that come in and say they have issues with the Confederate flag, I will work to talk to them about it. I will work and talk to them about the heritage and how this is not something that is racist. This is something that is a tradition that people feel proud of and let them know that we want their business in this state and that the flag where it is was a compromise of all people, that everybody should accept as part of South Carolina.”

CNN: “Haley also said she supported South Carolina’s ‘Confederate History Month’ during the interview, comparing it to Black History Month.” 

New York Magazine: “Years after basking in national plaudits for her action on the the flag, Haley backtracked while serving in the Trump administration, saying the Confederate flag was seen as an emblem of ‘service, and sacrifice, and heritage’ before it was ‘hijacked’ by the Charleston murderer Dylann Roof.”

Ron DeSantis has repeatedly defended his claim that some enslaved people benefited from slavery and wants to rewrite the truth about American history in Florida schools. 

Washington Post: “DeSantis doubles down on claim that some Blacks benefited from slavery”

“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is intensifying his efforts to de-emphasize racism in his state’s public school curriculum by arguing that some Black people benefited from being enslaved and defending his state’s new African American history standards that civil rights leaders and scholars say misrepresents centuries of U.S. reality.

“‘They’re probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life,’ DeSantis said on Friday in response to reporters’ questions while standing in front of a nearly all-White crowd of supporters.”

Politico: “New Florida teaching standards say African Americans received some ‘personal benefit’ from slavery”

Tallahassee Democrat: “DeSantis signs into law ‘Stop WOKE Act’ to restrict race discussions in Florida”