041 - Brian Fairbanks - A Grand Wizard for Governor

I speak to Brian Fairbanks, author of WIZARDS: David Duke, America’s Wildest Election, and the Rise of the Far Right. 

On October 19, 1991, former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke stunned the world by defeating Louisiana’s centrist governor in the primary and vaulting himself into a runoff against corrupt, but popular, former governor Edwin Edwards. Official Democratic and Republican campaigns had mistakenly seen Duke as a Republican longshot. When his campaign later lost the general election in a landslide, many assumed that Duke and his white supremacy movement were in permanent retreat. They were very, very wrong.

Brian Fairbanks examines Duke’s rise and and how it foreshadowed the political ascendency of Donald Trump. With gripping detail, he shows how the Far Right took control of the local and federal government with Duke’s message. It’s a full history that shows where the Republican Party has been, and offers a warning about where it’s going. To do this, Fairbanks follows Beth Rickey, a little-known social justice activist and elected Republican official, who sacrificed her career to warn the country about Duke and his followers.