On July 22 2016, ex Neo-Nazi and Klan leader David Duke announced that he would be running for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. Duke cited the rise of Donald Trump in his decision to seek higher office, hoping that many of the same hardcore racists that make up Trump’s fanbase will carry him over the top in Louisiana.

In Duke’s video announcement (which I realize I’m belatedly posting), the former Grand Wizard and Louisiana State Representative said he decided to run following a “great outpouring of overwhelming support.” Duke claimed he believes in “equal rights for all” Americans, but is specifically fighting for “the rights and the heritage of European-Americans” — a clumsy neologism that obviously refers to white people.

He also boasted that, during his term in the Louisiana House of Representatives, he “passed the only bill in America forbidding affirmative action programs” which, he said, “racially discriminate against the best-qualified.” He did not mention, however, his attempt to offer cash incentives for the sterilization of poor Louisianans.

Duke said that because special interest groups exist for African-Americans, Latinos, and Jews, it is necessary for white people to have “one man in the United States Senate, one man in the Congress, who will defend their rights and heritage.” He then called for an end to immigration, which he called an “ethnic cleansing of the people whose forefathers created America.”

On the August 11, 2016 episode of his radio program, Duke spoke with fellow anti-Semite Kevin MacDonald — a retired psychology professor who persuaded Duke to launch his Senate campaign.

Duke pleaded with viewers for campaign donations, warning his fans that “they will spend millions of dollars against me in the PACs” in order to stop him from reaching the Senate. He also lauded his campaign message as something that the “vast majority” of white people would agree with.

Duke added that white people need “at least one man in the Senate standing up for our heritage, our rights, our America,” because without that white people will have “no future.” The “existence of our very people” hangs in the balance, he warned. “That sounds really strange to talk about, to think that, well, the existence of our people is at stake. But how elemental can you get than that? Doesn’t every life-form, every people, have a right to exist? That’s what really we’re facing in this country.”

Those of you who want to get involved and help make this election victory possible, we need you. We absolutely need you. We don’t have to raise the kind of money the opposition has — and they will spend millions of dollars against me in the PACs. They raised twenty or thirty million dollars in my last races just to try to keep me out of the Senate and out of the governorship of Louisiana. As this election goes along they will spend a lot.

But without…But with your help we’ll be able to run a campaign. We have the Internet now. We can do our videos. We can do our campaign. We can mail to people. We can also send emails to our individuals. We have social media. We have a way to get our message out. And I think our message is totally compelling. I think our message is amazing.

I believe with all my heart, and all my mind, that the average — in fact, the vast majority of European-Americans, as well as even some of the other people that understand the importance of preserving our European-American heritage for the things they want in America. Or the law and order, the decency, the values, the educational values, and all the principles that make this country great. I think the vast majority of the people of this state agree with most of my message. In fact, almost all of my message, when people actually hear it for themselves.

So it’s up to you to help me have the ability to get the message out there. It’s your message. It’s not just my message. It’s our message, that we’re teaching — we gotta have one guy in the Senate, at least one man in the Senate standing up for our heritage, our rights, our America. Because unless we change the direction of this country, there’s no future for the America that our forefathers dreamed about. But there’s no future, actually, for our very children. For the existence of our very people. That sounds really strange to talk about, to think that, well, the existence of our people is at stake. But how elemental can you get than that? Doesn’t every life-form, every people, have a right to exist? That’s what really we’re facing in this country.

Duke lavished more praise on Trump, calling him “great” but noting that his presidency will not suffice by itself. Even if Trump were to win, whites would need someone “that’s gonna continue to push the envelope” and “give him space to maneuver.”

It would also mean another politician who’s able to speak about the “fundamental issues” white people supposedly face that even Trump “doesn’t dare talk about.” After all, Trump might speak in dog whistles but someone must raise these “fundamental issues” in “an explicit way” that only an open white supremacist can.

Moreover, he continued, if he is elected or even makes it to the runoff, his race would act as a “huge bully pulpit” for the racist “ideas we stand for.” Of that, Duke is surely correct.

Well you know the alt-right, what we represent — obviously the message that you’ve been talking about and I’ve been talking about, we’ve been telling the whole truth for a long time. And I would urge people to understand this principle: Donald Trump did raise about $85,000,000 I think this last month. He’s still getting a lot of contributors, he’s gonna be able to have decent funding. He will definitely be in the debates. [Inaudible] an opportunity.

I hope people understand that the people who know I’m telling the whole truth — and that’s really what the essential thing is, to have one guy. Even if Trump wins we have to have some guy in there that’s gonna continue to push the envelope, that’s going to give him some space to maneuver. And to address the fundamental issues. Donald Trump is great, but even Donald Trump doesn’t dare talk about some of the fundamental issues except in an implicit way. Whereas we need an explicit way. We need to talk about the fact that our heritage is surviving.

So, the bang for your buck, folks, I mean you know, he will have adequate funding to get out his message. Of course all the money…More money is always helpful to a degree. But if you wanna make the biggest impact right now — in terms of the campaign to get our message out and make a statement, to make an incredible statement — would be to support this campaign, because your dollars, every dollar you spend here, the vote-to-dollar ratio is so high in my campaign. In fact, I’ve always had the highest vote per dollar expended of any candidate in my state of Louisiana for high office. So your dollar is gonna make a much bigger impact in a small state for this race.

And of course if I get elected, if I get into the runoff — which is likely according to the liberal leading Democrat in the race, Campbell Foster — if I get to the runoff, this is going to be the biggest race covered in the world. Whether Trump wins or not, over the next thirty days after November 8th to the election runoff of December 2nd, there’s gonna be incredible coverage, and it’s gonna be a huge bully pulpit for the ideas we stand for.