The North Carolina Republican Party has condemned a parade that the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) — the infamous white-supremacist group — after it announced that it would take out a parade in the state to mark the election of billionaire businessman-turned-politician Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States.
This is hardly the first time Trump has become embroiled in such a racist controversy. His views on Muslims had led many members of the community from across the world to openly express fear on social media after it was formally announced on November 9 that he would be the President.
The Loyal White Knights of Pelham, North Carolina, had said on its website that it would organise a parade on December 3 to mark Trump's victory in the US presidential elections. The entry has been removed as of now, but it did not seem to have gone under the radar.
The North Carolina unit of the Republican Party — whose candidate Trump was when he won the election — certainly took notice. The state unit chief, Robin Hayes, said in a statement regarding the proposed parade: "We are disgusted and condemn this extremist ideology and associated actions in the strongest possible terms."
He also said: "These acts and thought processes are no reflection of the heartbeat of this great country and are counter to the efforts to make America great again. We stand with the Democratic Party in calling these out-of-state troublemakers to go home." Trump's own campaign also condemned the parade.
Trump's brushes with white supremacists
As mentioned earlier, this is not the first time Trump has been associated with white supremacists. Earlier this month, before the November 8 elections, the KKK had shown support for him by splashing his campaign tagline — "Make America Great Again" — across the front page of their website. The GOP had been quick to denounce it as well.
Earlier, as Trump accepted his nomination from the GOP for the presidential race at the Republican National Convention in July, a tweet by a white supremacist was splashed across the screen as he delivered his acceptance speech.
