A man wearing a Ku Klux Klan costume trolled former President Donald Trump’s appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) over the weekend.
Michael Picard—a political satirist who has previously dressed as a Trump supporter at other political events and who trolled GOP Representative Matt Gaetz with a sex doll last summer—attended Sunday’s CPAC event in a KKK costume to draw attention to The Crusader‘s 2016 endorsement of Trump. The Crusader is one of the KKK’s most prominent publications.
Michael Picard
As he stood up at the end of Trump’s speech to “make a bang” with his interruption, Secret Service detained him before he could put his hood on, Picard told Newsweek. He recalled being booed by the crowd.
A video posted to X (formerly Twitter) shows the aftermath of the altercation. Picard can be heard shouting “the Klan supports Trump” as security officials try to block him from public view.
Picard’s latest stunt is a nod to the front-page op-ed that The Crusader ran ahead of the 2016 presidential election, in which Thomas Robb, the Klan’s national director, asked, “Can America really be great again? This is what we will soon find out.”
Robb later denied that his piece amounted to a formal endorsement, but told The Washington Post, “Overall, we do like his nationalist views and his words about shutting down the border to illegal aliens.”
Speaking about his costume, Picard said: “I can understand how this is offensive” and clarified that he does not support the Klan. “But I think the fact that a president [was] endorsed by the KKK needs to be needs to be brought into the spotlight again.”
He continued: “I don’t think it’s being talked about enough at this point. But I thought I would just remind everyone that Trump was actually and literally endorsed by the KKK. And I thought I would do it in a very public way to draw attention to that fact.”
After the 2016 op-ed was published, the Trump campaign quickly denounced The Crusader, saying in a statement: “Mr. Trump and the campaign denounces hate in any form. This publication is repulsive and their views do not represent the tens of millions of Americans who are uniting behind our campaign.”
Picard, however, said that despite Trump’s efforts to distance himself from the KKK, any support from the white supremacist group should be a warning sign to voters.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
“The former president can denounce their endorsement all he wants, but if the KKK feels comfortable enough [to support him] in this day and age and if they aligned with the policies of the president, then that should give us all pause and we should think about who we align with,” he said.
As Trump speech concludes at CPAC, Michael Picard – a political satirist who often dresses as a Trump supporter – appears to be detained in a KKK outfit. pic.twitter.com/SYeee1mijP
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) February 24, 2024
In 2020, David Duke, the former grand wizard of the white supremacist group, endorsed Trump ahead of the election and also suggested that he should pick then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson as his running mate. Thus far, neither Robb nor Duke has expressed support for Trump’s 2024 White House bid.
Nonetheless, Picard said, “just because they haven’t outwardly endorsed the former president doesn’t mean that they still don’t endorse him.”
Picard previously wore the KKK costume at a Trump rally in New Hampshire last month, but he told Newsweek he plans to burn it this week. A video of his CPAC stunt will be uploaded to his YouTube channel on March 3.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.