Steve Scalise’s White Supremacy Scandal Is a Crucial Test For Rand Paul For 2016

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) is currently weathering day two of a scandal involving his (allegedly unwitting) appearance at a 2002 white supremacist conference, and if he isn’t already, Senator and presidential hopeful Rand Paul (R-Ky.) ought to be watching the scoreboard. On Monday, The Washington Post‘s Robert Costa confirmed a local Louisiana blog’s report that Scalise spoke at a 2002 conference for the David Duke-founded European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO), and in the gaping news hole that is New Year’s week, the Scalise fallout is pretty much the only political story in town.

Scalise, for his part, has essentially stuck to the premise that he didn’t know he was speaking at a David Duke event, that he was speaking to everyone back then (even Women Voters!), and that just because racists liked his policies doesn’t mean he likes racists. What little reaction there has been from Republicans so far has consisted of their intuitions that Scalise is not a racist (which is not what anyone is accusing him of, to be clear). Republican congressional leaders, meanwhile, were slow to react to the news. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) finally released a written statement Tuesday afternoon expressing support for Scalise, and showing the general contours of the Scalise defense::

“More than a decade ago, Representative Scalise made an error in judgment, and he was right to acknowledge it was wrong and inappropriate. Like many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I know Steve to be a man of high integrity and good character. He has my full confidence as our Whip, and he will continue to do great and important work for all Americans.”

Scalise has also released a new statement…READ MORE 

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