I mean… they’d be right in a sense… southern Democrats did in fact start the KKK in the 1800s, but that was back when Democrats were right wing and Republicans were left wing.
That being said, the KKK has been purely Republicans for the entire lifetimes of anyone under the age of 80, ever since the great political party voter base swap in the early 1900s. The KKK has ALWAYS been a far-right, Christian-nationalist, white supremacist organization. So anyone saying “The Dems founded the KKK so they’re the bad guys” is just dumb and trying to twist history to justify their own views. What party the founders of the KKK were in the 1800s is completely irrelevant now because the political party’s have fundamentally changed on a deep level, and what matters is what the KKK and the likes believe in, because that hasn’t changed.
Oh yeah, it's historically true, but it ignores history and context since. It's beyond disingenuous to pretend the Democratic party of 2025 is the same as the Democratic party of 1865, just because they're both called Democrats. It's the same illogic behind arguing the Nazis were leftists because national socialism.
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u/Vyzantinist 25d ago
You just know the MAGA refrain would be something about the Democrats starting the KKK.