Missouri GOP Moves to Remove ‘Honorary’ KKK Member from Ballot

Darrell McClanahan III’s Nazi salute in front of a burning cross was apparently too much for the state Republican party

Feb 29, 2024 at 10:34 am

The Missouri GOP says it'll give Darrell Leon McClanahan III the boot off the ballot due to his association with the Ku Klux Klan. CANDIDATE PHOTO

[
          {
            "name": "GPT - Leaderboard - Inline - Content",
            "component": "41932919",
            "insertPoint": "5th",
            "startingPoint": "3",
            "requiredCountToDisplay": "3",
            "maxInsertions": 100
          }
          
        ]

The Missouri Republican Party announced this morning that it has begun the process of removing Darrell Leon McClanahan III from the primary ballot after a photo resurfaced showing him giving a Nazi salute next to a man in white robes in front of a burning cross. McClanahan is running for governor as a Republican.

The photo and an accompanying article on the Anti-Defamation League's website had previously been the subject of a lawsuit filed by McClanahan. In that suit, McClanahan argued that what appeared to be a cross-burning was a mere "Christian Identity Cross lighting ceremony,” and while he acknowledged he was a “honorary” member of the local Ku Klux Klan,” said he’d never been a full-fledged member.

click to enlarge

VIA ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE

These photos tweeted yesterday by former Missouri Representative Shamed Dogan first appeared on the website of the Anti-Defamation League, which won a legal battle with Darrell McClanahan III. McClanahan is now running for governor.

McClanahan echoed those statements via text message to the RFT yesterday.

The excuse doesn't appear to have flown with many Republican leaders. The state party's official Twitter account posted this morning that McClanahan's affiliation with the KKK "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. We condemn any association with hate groups and are taking immediate action to rectify this situation."

McClanahan's would-be opponents, state Senator Bill Eigel and Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe, have both posted to Twitter saying that McClanahan should be removed from the ballot immediately.

"There is no place for racism or anti-semitism in the party of Lincoln," wrote Kehoe.

The third major candidate in the race, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, issued a similar statement, writing, "The allegations against Darrell McClanahan are serious and the photos damning…should immediately investigate them and, if confirmed, remove him from the ballot."

St. Louis-based gun control activist Laura Burkhardt subsequently posted a reply to Ashcroft's statement displaying a photo that McClanahan appears to have posted last month showing himself with Ashcroft. (If you squint you can see the Mark McCloskey campaign sign in the background as well.)