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Where we choose pride over character.

Did they really have to give PGJR an animu artstyle?

R. Derek Blacks coming out story is complicated.

As a child, Black came out to the world as a white nationalist on the syndicated daytime talk program The Jenny Jones Show in 1999. Then, while trying to hide their white nationalist credentials as a college student roughly a decade later, Black was outed in a student-run online forum. In 2013, Black came out yet again: In an article published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Black condemned white supremacy and their famous familys ideology and came out as an antiracist.

Now, in the memoir The Klansmans Son, the 35-year-old child of former Ku Klux Klan leader Don Black and a close family friend of the notorious former KKK grand wizard David Duke is coming out as transgender.

You can sort of bury these things, and for a lot of my teenage years, it was often feeling like it wanted to burst through, Black, who uses they/them and she/her pronouns, told NBC News. But it was also something that I just didnt talk about with almost anybody.

Black learned not to talk about their gender identity, or anything private for that matter, from a young age.

They write in their memoir, released earlier this month, that their father who founded what is thought to be the internets first neo-Nazi website, Stormfront taught them that the notion of privacy was absurd.

One of the earliest and most consistent pieces of advice that my dad ever gave me was, never say anything that you wouldnt be willing to see published in The New York Times the next day, they write.

Much of what Black said would in fact go on to be published in The New York Times.

Black made international headlines in 2008 for winning a seat on the Republican executive committee for Floridas Palm Beach County at age 19. Given Blacks family history, the press regularly compared Black to Duke, who also held political office as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1982 to 1999. In the weeks after Blacks win, Duke publicly referred to Black as the heir to the white nationalist movement, Black writes in their book.

In an interview with NBC News, however, Duke denied calling Black his heir.

Ive never, ever said publicly that I saw him as the heir to my work or the successor to my work, Duke said in a phone call. I would never even think about that.

But after the Palm Beach County committee refused to seat Black, they left their home in West Palm Beach, Florida, to pursue their bachelors degree at New College of Florida in Sarasota. There, they describe living something of a double life.

As a college student, they continued to host their morning neo-Nazi radio show, The Derek Black Show, in secrecy from their peers. Simultaneously, Black formed close friendships with the same groups of people they regularly targeted on the radio: Jewish people and people of color.

It just became intolerable, they said. I couldnt manage this sort of split that was going on, and I couldnt even imagine coming back to campus and having to keep doing it, wondering when the shoe is going to drop, when people were going to find out about me.

Eventually, one of their peers outed them for their white nationalist roots on a student-run online forum. It was then, Black said, that their transformation from a white nationalist to an antiracist began. But it didnt happen overnight. Black said it took years of persuasion from friends who didnt give up on them to change their views.

It wasnt the first time someone told me racism was bad. I had 10,000 emails from strangers throughout my whole adolescence telling me that, they said. But it was the first time that I lived in a community where the people on the other end telling me I was responsible for ignorance and hate and was spouting stuff that was stupid and ridiculous and wrong was coming from a community of people who I knew and respected and cared about and wanted to be connected with.

In 2013, without telling their family in advance, Black released an article disavowing their white supremacist ideology and formally separating themself from the movement. In the decade since, they said, their relationship with their immediate family has primarily consisted of well wishes for birthdays and holidays.

Since coming out as trans and releasing their memoir, Black said, their relationship with their family has become even more strained.

Throughout their memoir, Black, who was assigned male at birth, briefly mentions struggles they had as a child understanding their gender identity. They reference the long hair they had, which they say often prompted people to mistake them for a girl.

I liked the gender confusion, except in public bathrooms, where adult men always took it upon themselves to compliment my looks before telling me I was in the wrong room, Black writes.

But since writing the book and on a recent press tour to promote it, Black has decided to come out more publicly. They said they originally planned on using he/him pronouns and presenting as a man for the press tour, but ultimately decided against it.

Its something that Im even now thinking more about, how I want to present in the world, Black said.

The response from their parents whom Black said they did not want to disparage has been disappointing, they said.

I have never gotten as explicitly vitriolic and cruel messages from them as since I publicly identified as trans, Black said. Its not that Im exactly surprised, because theyre, you know, leaders of the white nationalist movement. Its kind of what you would expect, I guess.

But, Black added, Theyre also my parents, who Ive cared about and loved and continue to love, and they have loved me.

In a phone call with NBC News, Don Black described the rift between himself and his child as devastating.

All of my experiences with him were the most rewarding of my life, which made it particularly horrible, Don Black said through tears, misgendering R. Derek Black. Because we did go everywhere together.

Don Black also encouraged people to read his childs book. His wife and R. Derek Black's mother, Chloe Black, declined to comment.

R. Derek Black said they have not heard from Duke, who has largely been out of the public eye since unsuccessfully running for Congress in 2016, since they disavowed their white nationalist beliefs more than a decade ago.

I can only assume the same as my parents, the sort of person with lack of curiosity and lack of compassion and care for a person who is supposed to be an important part of their family, Black said. Because he is definitely family. Its not just a professional, political relationship. I always grew up calling him uncle.

Duke, whose ex-wife is Blacks mother and whose two daughters are Blacks half sisters, called his strained relationship with Black a sad situation.

I do believe that Derek Black will realize that hes made a real mistake, Duke said, misgendering Black. And I think someday hell be repentant in a sense for the hurt hes caused his father and mother and others.

When asked about his beliefs, Duke denied being a white supremacist, adding that his work is about defending the civil rights of white people.

CORRECTION (May 28, 2024, 10:11 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article used an incorrect pronoun for Black in one instance. Black uses they/them and she/her pronouns, not he/him.

WASHINGTON Under a new scheme engineered by Donald Trump, his personal committee that has been paying his legal bills will be able to skim nearly $32 million from large-dollar donors that otherwise would have gone to the Republican Party, if he and the party can match their fundraising numbers from four years ago.

In the 2020 campaign, every dime of the $396 million jointly raised by the coup-attempting former president and the GOP from those writing big checks went to Trumps campaign, the RNC and then a host of state parties.

This time, though, the Trump 47 joint committee puts Trumps Save America leadership PAC essentially a slush fund at Trumps disposal that he has used to pay lawyers defending him from both criminal and civil charges second in line to collect money. After the first $6,600 goes to Trumps campaign, the next $5,000 goes to Save America. Only when a donation exceeds $11,600 does the RNC get its first penny.

Had that arrangement been in place in 2020, Trumps personal fund would have received $31.8 million that otherwise would have gone to the RNC and state parties, according to a HuffPost analysis of Federal Election Commission filings.

The RNC has become a money-laundering operation for the most crooked president in history, said Jennifer Horn, once an RNC member by dint of her former role as chair of New Hampshires Republican Party.

The campaign doesnt care, and it seems the donors dont care either. I think people increasingly see the legal challenges as part of the campaign, said longtime GOP consultant David Kochel. He has to fight the lawfare and the Biden campaign.

The Trump campaign did not respond to HuffPost queries about how much the joint fundraising effort will help deal with his personal problems, rather than help the party win elections.

Top Trump campaign aide Chris LaCivita, who is now also running the RNCs day-to-day operations, claimed early this month that the party would not be paying Trumps legal bills. Barely two weeks later, though, HuffPost and other news organizations obtained an invitation for the first joint fundraiser that does exactly that.

Some current RNC members privately grumbled about having to pay for Trumps legal expenses, but others defended it.

A donor can give directly to the campaign, or directly to the RNC and so forth, said Richard Porter, a member from Illinois. These vehicles make life easier for donors who prefer to write one check.

The honest transparency is the key. People will be making informed decisions about where they want donations to go. Many see President Trumps legal problems as partisan. It has probably even boosted his following and many do want to direct funding to help his defense against what seem unfair charges, added Ohios Jim Dicke.

How much, exactly, Trumps personal slush fund will benefit from the joint fundraising agreement will depend on how many individual donors give at least $6,600 to Trump 47.

During the 2020 election cycle, the Trump Victory joint fundraising committee received 27,650 donations. Of those, 20,756 were smaller than $6,600 meaning that, if they were given to Trump 47 today, they would provide money exclusively to the Trump campaign.

Another 1,482 donations were between $6,600 and $11,600, which would, if given today, produce $4,739,184 for Trumps Save America committee, according to the HuffPost analysis.

And the final 5,414 donations exceeded $11,600, which, if given today, would produce $27,070,000 for Save America.

Because leadership PACs are so lightly regulated, their owners can essentially spend the money at their discretion, even though it was ostensibly raised for political purposes. In 2023, Trump used $54.2 million from Save America to pay his various lawyers.

And as much as Trump could benefit from wealthy donors with the imprimatur of the RNC, he could potentially collect more than twice that much from his millions of followers a great number of them retirees who send him $5 or $20 or $50 through his endless stream of email and text message solicitations.

Trump raised $732.6 million in 2020 alone from this army of small-dollar donors. Indeed, about $250 million of that came after he had lost the November election but told his supporters he needed more money to overturn the results in court.

If Trump can get those followers to give him in 2024 what they gave him four years earlier, that would generate $73 million for his personal use under the current allocation formula that sends 90 cents of each dollar raised to his campaign and 10 cents to Save America. He could also increase the amount flowing to his slush fund if he alters the formula to provide it a larger share of each dollar.

If we didnt live in the upside down, this would be a much bigger issue with donors, Kochel said.

Trump in recent years has come to need a host of lawyers to defend his actions in court.

Trump was sued by the New York state attorney general for fraud based on his decades of overstating the value of his properties to get better terms from banks and insurers. He lost the case and is now appealing the $464 million judgment.

He is also facing four separate criminal prosecutions two based on his actions leading up to and on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of his followers attacked the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to reinstall him as president.

A federal indictment could go to trial as early as late August, depending on the timing of a Supreme Court ruling on his claim that he is immune from prosecution. A Georgia state prosecution based on his attempt to overturn his election loss in that state could also start later this year.

A New York state prosecution on charges that he falsified business records to hide hush money payments in the days before the 2016 election could start as early as next month, while a second federal prosecution based on his refusal to turn over secret documents he took with him from the White House to his South Florida country club has not yet been set for trial.

In 2023, a New York jury found that Trump had sexually penetrated writer E. Jean Carroll against her will in an incident in the 1990s, finding him civilly liable for sexual abuse. The federal judge in the case later clarified that Trumps actions were rape in the common modern parlance. He is appealing the $88 million judgement from that verdict, as well.

Mark Robinson, the hardcore conspiracy-theorist Republican running for governor in North Carolina, has been posting through it ever since his rise to power in 2021 as the states first-ever Black lieutenant governor.

Hes called the Holocaust hogwash and described the Nazis as upstart amateurs in terms of manipulation and murder. Robinsons also drawn the attention of online extremist groups, including the white supremacist forum Stormfront, a website founded in the 1990s by a Ku Klux Klan leader in Alabama.

Robinsons ties to the forum were previously reported in a Washington Post story in March, which mentioned a 2021 thread praising him as the negro N. Carolina Lt. Gov who goes off on CRT, trans, jews, and anti-Americans. LOL!

The candidates name has appeared in nine separate posts on Stormfront between 2021 and 2023, according to documents obtained by The Daily Beast. Robinson has also drawn a following on the QAnon forum The Great Awakening, appearing on at least 77 message board threads between April 2023 and March 2024.

Hes an opposition researchers dream, veteran North Carolina Democratic strategist Morgan Jackson told The Daily Beast.

Robinson serving as a fount of social media conspiracy theories and vile proclamations about the LGBT community, Jews, and other minority groups was one thing when he was running in a sleepy lieutenant governors race. Now, hes facing the heat that comes with one of the most competitive gubernatorial races in the country, in which the spending will go from the six-figure tallies of his last race to likely more than a hundred million this cycle, Jackson said.

As the opposition researchers gift that keeps on giving, Robinson might be such a uniquely bad candidate that he could not only throw the governors race to the Democrats, but also jeopardize former President Donald Trumps efforts to hold onto the state he won in 2020.

DJT likes him a lot, a Trumpworld strategist told The Daily Beast, requesting anonymity to relay private concerns over Robinsons viability. But the ticket-splitting in North Carolina is a real problem.

Democrats have won seven out of the last eight governors races in North Carolina, while Republicans have won seven out of the last eight presidential contests.

If Robinson gets wiped out in the general electioneven though hes currently running neck-and-neck in early polls against his Democratic opponent, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Steinboth Democrats and Republicans wonder if it could cut into Trumps vote total and give President Joe Biden a fighting chance at winning the battleground state.

Paul Shumaker, a longtime North Carolina GOP strategist who worked for Robinsons opponent in the primary, said a so-called reverse coattails effect is entirely possible, where some voters back off from voting for Trump because of Robinsons antics.

Shumaker has previously said Democrats have been given the greatest messenger against Mark Robinson, and thats Mark Robinson. In his interview with The Daily Beast, he added that Robinson is the Democrats best hope at putting North Carolina in play at the presidential level, where Trump has been averaging a 5-point lead in the most recent polling.

The Biden campaign will attempt to tie the two together, Shumaker said in a text message. Democrats have a major turnout problem and Trump will distance himself and withdraw his endorsement if Robinson becomes too much of a liability. Cant underscore Ds turnout problems enough.

Both Shumaker and the Trumpworld strategist said another complicating factor over the next few months will be Robinsons relationship with the business community, where his anti-Jewish and anti-LGBT remarks could lead firms to reconsider moving to the state or staying there if he takes over the governors mansion.

Mark Robinson is the most extreme candidate for public office, period, in North Carolinamuch less the race for governor, Jackson said. If youre a CEO and youre thinking of moving your business to North Carolina, and Mark Robinson is the governor, I think your employees are going to tell you they want to go somewhere else.

The Robinson and Trump campaigns did not return a request for comment.

Even if Trump remains a fan of Robinson, those around the former president have begun to realize what kind of potential nightmare they might face in November.

Clearly, the Trumpworld strategist said, its not great.

"Biden is still worse" - Dumb people, probably

Well I'm sure Biden and the Dems will feel so owned when you and I are lined up against the wall because you can't bring yourself to vote against someone instead of for another. At least you'll have your principles.

BTW, Biden has okayed us giving arms to Saudi Arabia again because "herp derp gotta fight teh Houthiz!"

i got cake and ice cream down here

Despite his begging that they nominate me or at least vote for me, the Libertarian Convention has rejected Donald Trump for the partys nomination. The partys chair ruled the former president is ineligible because he failed to submit the proper paperwork, according to CNN.

Libertarian Party Chair Angela McArdle determined that Trump could not move forward in the vote for a nominee. Trump addressed the convention on Saturday evening, where he was met with raucous boos and heckling.

Meanwhile, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accepted his nomination to be considered as a potential Libertarian presidential candidate. Kennedy also received boos when he addressed the convention on Saturday.

In an awkward moment, McArdle phoned RFK Jr. from the convention podium while some delegates voiced their objections only to anticlimactically announce, Hes going to get back to us.

"Does he accept the nomination?"
"We have confirmation that he does."
"Do you want me to call him and ask me if he accepts the nomination?"
"Yes."
"I'm going to do it myselfLet's see if he picks up."
[PAUSE]
"He's going to get back to us"

Libertarian convention calls RFK Jr pic.twitter.com/Tcb5OIo2Rs

Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) May 26, 2024
Kennedy later appeared in a video address to the convention. Im very grateful to the Libertarian Party for this great honor, and I look forward to an alliance across the country, a fusion alliance of all of these independent parties who are now challenging the Republican-Democrat corrupt duopoly, he said. Last week, Kennedy told CNN he did not plan to seek the Libertarian partys nomination.

Kennedy addresses Libertarian Convention presidential vote via video, proposed a fusion campaign for November. pic.twitter.com/euVLexQZvO

David Weigel (@daveweigel) May 26, 2024
In other Libertarian news, Libertarian candidate Michael Rectenwald confirmed to The Washington Posts Meryl Kornfield that ate an edible before appearing at a press conference with two other candidates. Semafors Dave Weigel noted that Rectenwald was unusually off in his public remarks last night and left in the middle of the press conference, saying that he was bored by the questions.

This was not some sort of a major political scandal, okay. I wasnt found in bed with Stormy Daniels, Rectenwald told Kornfield. Im at a Libertarian Party convention. Somebody offered me something.

Before delegates began to vote for nominees, Rectenwald told the convention, I have a confession to make: Im high on liberty.

I must be that nobody

exactly im going to vote for biden but im still going to call him out for the war crimes he is helping

he is still better than trump which just speaks volumes of how evil the republican party is

Their prices suck. $70 for a new game, that's everyone. $80 for a few extra things. $90 for even more stuff. But Ubisoft? 70 for standard edition, $110 for gold, and a disgusting $130 for the deluxe edition

She shouldve known better. But iirc shes fat shamed her own staff several times.

Which thread was it and what was his alt?

laowhy86, SerpentZA, and their shared weekly show TheChinaShow.

I dont know if Texas is ready for nuke-ular just yet.

Weather hates Texas, Snakes hate Tennessee.

This is exactly why we need more nuclear.

If the Texas Democratic Party can get Harris County and Bexar County to 60% blue, and cut Republican margins in Tarrant County, Denton County, and Collin County by 1-3% each, Texas is winnable.

The tally thus far this weekend:

SUSPENDED, FATE PENDING
X8Azazel8X
Campbell
CyborgSage00x
Fenris/Feihongwong
LOLLife
ROB45
S_A_S

WARNED
HockeyBabe89
JasonSehorn
Were_Wyrm

Who did I miss?

also, currently in purg:
Forsaken Hermit (NOOOO!!! His political jokes are hilarious!)
Mario2000
Modifier
0K_Then
Will_VIIII (NOOOOO!!!!!)

Because he is a horrible person and is cheering on the destruction of solar panels.

Agreed

No matter how clean you get everything. They still are around. Don't love in south Texas under this heat.

What's frightening is that Democrats' plan to fight fascism is "vote harder".