Anti-Semite and white supremacist David Duke is very active, traveling the United States and abroad to spread his virulently anti-Semitic and racist worldview. He has convened and spoken at conferences with the purpose of demonizing Jews and minorities and denying the Holocaust. He has also visited Russia, the Ukraine, and other European countries to promote his work.

Domestic Activity
In November 2008, just days after Barack Obama won the presidential election, Duke convened a conference in Memphis, Tennessee, for fellow white supremacists to discuss their movement’s plans for the future. In his keynote speech, Duke addressed the issue of Obama but reserved most of his venom for the Jews. Duke blamed Jewish control of the media and Hollywood for brainwashing white people into accepting Obama as their President. According to Duke, “The Jews were in charge of the election, we had no choice, but it is better for us now because we know who the enemy is.” He also expressed disbelief that Obama could win on his own merit but declared that he was “an affirmative action president.” In a post Duke made to his Web site before the conference took place, he explained that its purpose was “to issue a clarion call for a Movement across the United States, and indeed across the European-American world, to defend our heritage and freedom!”

Other attendees at the conference included Don Black, who runs Stormfront, the most popular white supremacist Internet forum, his son Derek, who has been active in local politics in Florida, James Edwards, the host of Political Cesspool, a white supremacist radio show, and Paul Fromm, a Canadian white supremacist.

Duke publishes the David Duke Report, a monthly newsletter that he fills with self-promotion and racist and anti-Semitic charges, including repeated references to the “Jewish-dominated media.” The August 2008 issue announced Duke’s alliance with Edward Fields, who joined EURO and merged his publication with Duke’s. Duke wrote that the merger will “make it easier for patriots to network in the efforts ahead to take our country back!” In an article Fields wrote announcing the alliance, he stated, “The man I believe who is accomplishing the most for our people and the man who has done more to oppose the Jewish extremists than any other person is Dr. David Duke. That realization is inescapable from almost every possible perspective.”

International Activity
In April 2009, authorities in Prague arrested Duke, who was visiting the Czech Republic to deliver speeches promoting his racist and anti-Jewish ideology. The arrest came as a result of suspicions that Duke was denying the Holocaust, an offense that, if convicted, could have landed him in prison for up to three years. Neo-Nazis in the Czech Republic invited Duke to deliver lectures in Prague and Brno. However, Prague's Charles University cancelled Duke's scheduled appearance at the school, due to reports that neo-Nazis were planning to attend. According to a Czech police spokesperson, charges would not be brought against Duke, who was ordered to leave the country the following day.

In June 2008, Duke was the keynote speaker at the Euro-Rus Congress, a white supremacist conference that took place in Belgium. Racists and anti-Semites from the United States, Russia, and Europe convened for the meeting. Euro-Rus is an organization “aimed at propagating the idea of a European geopolitical axis,” to prevent the “downfall” of the white people. Duke spoke about how the survival of the white people “is directly at stake” and gave an overview of his racist and anti-Semitic ideology. A post to Duke’s Web site explained that, in his speeches at the conference, Duke “outlines some of the critical issues facing European mankind and gives us an understanding why Russia faces attacks from the Zionist-influenced press.”

In November 2007, Duke traveled to Spain to promote a Spanish-language edition of his anti-Semitic book Jewish Supremacism, originally published in 2002. During his tour, Duke repeated many of his standard themes such as Jewish government and media domination and social marginalization of the white race. He stated, in one speech in the Spanish city of Valladolid, that he was a better friend to the Spanish people than their own government. An appearance in Barcelona was cancelled by the organizers after the Attorney General of Spain threatened to issue an injunction out of concern for potential violence from protestors. Duke’s book tour coincided with the week commemorating the death of the late fascist Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.  

Exploiting Controversies
In September 2007, Duke tried to exploit a racial controversy in Jena, Louisiana, that had gained national attention. Following a series of racially charged incidents, including the hanging of a noose from a tree at a high school, six black youths were initially charged with attempted murder for allegedly beating a white classmate. White supremacists and anti-Semites rallied in the town and Duke similarly exploited the issue to promote his views of black on white violence. In a September 2007 article posted to his Web site, he argued that “Whites are now deprived of human rights” and “are increasingly victims of Black racial violence and gang crimes.”  One defendant pleaded guilty, and the other five individuals await trial.

For David Duke’s activities prior to 2007, please see the “Background” section.