KKK leader Thomas Robb tells Al Jazeera support is growing ahead of US midterms

Left · 2Thomas Robb, a 79-year-old Arkansan and national director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, said support for the organisation is growing ahead of the US midterm elections, in an interview with Al Jazeera's Phil Lavelle published on Sunday 4 October. 1 2 Left · 1“Support for us is growing, there’s no question about that!” Robb said; Raw Story reports he succeeded David Duke as the Klan's leader in 1989. 1 Left · 1Al Jazeera presented the report as an examination of how much influence the group really has ahead of the midterms. 2

Left · 1Lavelle said the Klan is trying to rebrand publicly around family and faith, but that Robb told him robes are still used at times and that race remains at the top in determining who, in its leaders' eyes, belongs in America. 1 Left · 1Asked about non-white political figures such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, Robb said “they’re not Americans” and that he did not care where El-Sayed was born, arguing only white people could be considered Americans. 1 Left · 1Raw Story notes that El-Sayed was born in Michigan, as Lavelle pointed out, and that Mamdani, though not born in the US, is a naturalised citizen. 1

Left · 1Robb also dismissed criticism of President Donald Trump over rising costs during the war with Iran, citing the border wall and saying he could theoretically say he did not care if gas prices were $20 a gallon; Raw Story described the war as deeply unpopular. 1 Left · 1Raw Story adds that Robb also leads the Christian Revival Center in Boone County, northern Arkansas, where it says he stated Black people were not welcome, and that the church's website urges attendees to “Honor Your Birthright”, naming Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, Celtic, Scandinavian and related European peoples. 1 Left · 1The claim of growing support is Robb's own; the coverage provides no independent figures on membership or support. 1