A radio program promoted by longtime Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke has rebranded itself 鈥淭he Morning Aloha Report鈥 and credited Tulsi Gabbard for the inspiration.
Formerly called 鈥淪tormfront Radio,鈥 listeners of the white nationalist show were informed of the name change on Thursday by program host Patrick Slattery.
Quoting from Wikipedia, Slattery explained that aloha is defined as 鈥渓ove, affection, peace, compassion and mercy鈥 and commonly used as a 鈥渟imple greeting.鈥
But aloha, he added, 鈥渉as a much deeper cultural and spiritual significance to Native Hawaiians.鈥
He continued: 鈥淎ccording to Tulsi Gabbard, who I am not going to talk much about today 鈥 it is respect, I come at you with respect.鈥
Gabbard is a U.S. representative from Hawaii running for the Democratic Party鈥檚 presidential nomination. An inquiry to Gabbard鈥檚 campaign was not immediately responded to Monday.
Gabbard has previously and rejected his endorsement of her candidacy. After Duke urged President Trump in 2016 to pick Tulsi Gabbard as Secretary of State, she also disavowed that endorsement.
鈥淯 didn鈥檛 know I鈥檓 Polynesian/Cauc? Dad couldn鈥檛 use 鈥榳hites only鈥 water fountain. No thanks. Ur white nationalism is pure evil,鈥 she tweeted at the time.
During his radio show, Slattery argued that the audience of the program formerly known as 鈥淪tormfront鈥 embodies the aloha spirit.
鈥淲e come at people with respect 鈥 we brought people 鈥 people formally known as whites who now can be known as aloha Americans or aloha Earthlings.鈥
Duke, who features a photo of Gabbard as the banner for , on Thursday tweeted that 鈥淪tormfront Radio鈥 had rebranded and included a photo of Gabbard in a wetsuit and holding a surfboard.
White Supremacy
Duke, identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as 鈥渢he most recognizable figure of 鈥 and an 鈥渋nternational spokesman for Holocaust denial,鈥 posted the radio program鈥檚 link on his webpage along with the surfer photo of Gabbard with the caption 鈥淭he aloha spirit will set you free.鈥
According to the SPLC, Stormfront was the 鈥溾 on the internet. It was founded by former Alabama Klan boss and 鈥渓ong-time white supremacist鈥 Don Black. Black later launched 鈥淪tormfront Radio.鈥
It is not clear whether Black is still involved with the program, but Slattery mentions his name.
In explaining the name change, Slattery equates white people with embodying the aloha spirit because of what he views as their contribution to the world.
A summary of 鈥淭he Aloha Morning Report鈥 reiterates Slattery鈥檚 point:
Dr. Aloha said that whites embodied the aloha spirit when they ended slavery, a scourge to humanity that had persisted since time immemorial across the globe. He noted that whites had brought modern medicine and public health to the far corners of the earth, reducing infant mortality and doubling life expectancy. Their technology and culture have greatly enriched the lives of people everywhere. While this process wasn鈥檛 always smooth or without ulterior motive, in general whites have shown tremendous altruism and thus truly embody the aloha spirit. He declared that henceforth we will be known as 鈥淎loha-Americans.鈥
Slattery does not mention Gabbard again in the hour-long program Thursday.
But he or his callers mention King Kamehameha I, the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the late entertainer Don Ho. Native Hawaiians were 鈥減ushed aside鈥 by immigrants from Japan and the mainland, and the overthrow is blamed on 鈥淎merican Jewish businessmen.鈥
The blurb for the rebranded show stated, 鈥淚nstead of starting the show with refrains of the old Confederate standard 鈥楾he South Will Rise Again,鈥 a heartfelt 1917 rendition of 鈥楢loha Oe鈥 introduced the show.鈥 It does not explain that 鈥淎loha Oe鈥 was written by Liliuokalani.
Also mentioned on the inaugural episode of 鈥淭he Morning Aloha Report鈥 are Donald Trump, 鈥渂uilding the wall,鈥 the murder of American Mormons in Mexico last week and the need to protect white people from minorities.
Slattery ends the program saying 鈥淪tay tuned for the David Duke show coming up next鈥 as 鈥淭he South Will Rise Again鈥 plays in the background.
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About the Author
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Chad Blair is the politics editor for Civil Beat. You can reach him by email at cblair@civilbeat.org or follow him on Twitter at .