The Missouri Republican Party has denounced a GOP candidate for governor with reported ties to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) after a picture of him resurfaced online.
In the picture, the candidate, Darrell Leon McClanahan III, appears to do a Nazi salute while standing in front of a burning cross and a man wearing a white robe and hood, NBC Reports.
The Republican candidate, who has described himself as “pro-white,” was one of nearly 280 candidates who registered last week. The Missouri GOP posted on social media Thursday that McClanahan’s affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan “fundamentally contradicts our party’s values and platform.”
“We have begun the process of having Mr. McClanahan removed from the ballot as a Republican candidate,” the party tweeted. “We condemn any association with hate groups and are taking immediate action to rectify this situation.”
McClanahan responded in part by saying “The GOP knew exactly who I am….What a bunch of Anti-White hypocrites.”
NBC News reports McClanahan said he would fight the move. “I filed legally and lawfully,” he said. “They will need to file a civil complaint to remove me.”
The Missouri GOP says it will refund McClanahan’s $200 filing fee and he will be asked to withdraw from the ballot. The party says it will seek a court intervention if needed.
McClanahan previously filed a $5 million lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League after a failed Senate run attempt alleging the organization had defamed him and engaged in “election interference” by calling him a white supremacist in an online post.
The suit describes McClanahan as “pro-White,” but he says he’s “not and has never been” a member of the KKK. However, the group’s state coordinator granted him an “honorary one-year membership.”