Can the KKK find a new foothold in the US?

The infamous hate group is trying to rebrand itself as the ‘Knights Party’ in an attempt to grow its base.

Members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front exit a metro station near Washington, DC, on July 4, 2026 [Cheney Orr/Reuters]

Deleted: Experts have warned over the past decade of a resurgence in white supremacy in the United States, fuelled in part by the mainstream influence of political figures like President Donald Trump.

Just this year, the Public Religion Research Institute released the results of a 2025 survey that asked more than 20,000 US adults to evaluate the statement, “Immigrants are invading our country and replacing our cultural and ethnic background.”

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That belief is the cornerstone of the great replacement theory , a conspiracy that falsely claims that immigrants, Jews and nonwhite groups seek to supplant white people in Western countries.

The research institute found that 32 percent of respondents – nearly one in three – nevertheless agreed with the idea.

Critics have accused right-wing leaders like Trump of normalising such views, through rhetoric that paints immigration as an “invasion” and “an assault on Western countries”.

Trump has also been accused of cosying up to white nationalists, even dining in 2022 with Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, a key figure in the movement. When white nationalists engaged in a deadly clash with protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, Trump said there were “fine people on both sides”.

Al Jazeera correspondent Phil Lavelle travelled to Boone County, Arkansas, to see whether one of the most infamous white supremacist organisations in US history had seen a bump in its influence midway through Trump’s second term.

He spoke to Thomas Robb, the head of what was formerly known as the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist group founded in the 1970s by David Duke.

What Lavelle found was a group seemingly eager to rebrand. The group had shortened its title to The Knights Party, and members told Lavelle they were trying to re-centre their message around family and faith.

But when Lavelle asked if a Black person would be welcome at the group’s church, Robb’s answer was simple.

“No,” Robb responded. “Because this is a white nationalist church.”

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) has a long history of racism and violence in the US. The movement began at the end of the civil war in 1865, as a response to government efforts to expand civil rights to Black people and other minority groups.

Through lynchings and other targeted acts of violence, the KKK attempted to block non-white participation in government and maintain racial divides.

Robb, a Christian pastor, took over as the head of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan – a faction of the KKK – in 1989. He has since attempted to broaden the group’s appeal.

He changed his title from “grand wizard” to “national director”, allowed new members to participate confidentially by mail, and distanced himself from KKK violence in public outreach campaigns.

Still, he has adhered to the racist philosophy his organisation is known for.

“What do you make of politicians like Zohran Mamdani or Abdul El-Sayed?” Lavelle asked Robb in his interview, referencing two high-profile US politicians who identify as Muslim.

“Well, first off, they’re not Americans,” Robb said. When Lavelle pointed out that El-Sayed was born in Michigan, Robb brushed off the contradiction. “I don’t care where he’s born. He’s not American.”

He proceeded to draw a distinction between the children of white and non-white immigrants. Only the children of white foreigners can be American, Robb said, “because they’re white”.

The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is one of dozens of white supremacy organisations operating in the US.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, an advocacy group, estimates that there are at least 152 such groups active in the US today, part of what it calls a rising trend over the last decade.

Just this year, another white supremacist organisation, the Patriot Front, marched through Washington, DC , during the Independence Day holiday.

Critics say Trump, at times, has echoed their rhetoric. Trump told The New York Times earlier this year that “white people were very badly treated” in fields like academics.

He also instructed his second administration to dismantle diversity initiatives, and under his leadership, the government has launched probes into whether universities and companies like Nike discriminate against white people.

In addition, Trump has given priority to white South Africans in refugee admissions, falsely claiming they are the subject of a “genocide”.

Robb claimed the current rise in white nationalist sentiment began well before Trump, in 2008, during the election of Barack Obama, the country’s first Black president.

“People are beginning to stir and being angered by what they see happening to the country,” said Robb. “So we’re kind of a voice for that.”

Still, Robb acknowledged public wariness of joining a white supremacist group like his. “As for people actually to become members, that’s kind of a line they [are] a little hesitant to cross sometimes,” he said.

He also declined when asked to provide membership numbers or provide evidence for his assertion that support for his movement “is growing”.

“Maybe we’re wrong. Maybe everybody hates us. I don’t know,” Robb said.

这个臭名昭著的仇恨组织正试图将自己重新包装成“骑士党”，以扩大其支持者群体。

2026年7月4日，白人至上主义团体“爱国者阵线”成员走出华盛顿特区附近的一个地铁站。[切尼·奥尔/路透社]

已删除：过去十年，专家们一直警告说，美国白人至上主义正在复兴，部分原因是唐纳德·特朗普总统等政治人物的主流影响力助长了这种复兴。

就在今年，公共宗教研究所发布了 2025 年的一项调查结果，该调查要求 20,000 多名美国成年人评估“移民正在入侵我们的国家，并取代我们的文化和种族背景”这一说法。

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这种信念是“大替换理论”的基石，该理论是一种阴谋论，错误地声称移民、犹太人和非白人群体试图取代西方国家的白人。

该研究机构发现，仍有 32% 的受访者（接近三分之一）同意这一观点。

批评人士指责特朗普等右翼领导人通过把移民描绘成“入侵”和“对西方国家的攻击”的言论，使这种观点正常化。

特朗普还被指控与白人至上主义者走得很近，甚至在2022年与否认纳粹大屠杀的尼克·富恩特斯共进晚餐，富恩特斯是该运动的关键人物。2017年，当白人至上主义者与抗议者在弗吉尼亚州夏洛茨维尔发生致命冲突时，特朗普却说“双方都有好人”。

半岛电视台记者菲尔·拉维尔前往阿肯色州布恩县，调查美国历史上最臭名昭著的白人至上主义组织之一在特朗普第二个任期中期的影响力是否有所提升。

他与托马斯·罗布进行了交谈，托马斯·罗布是前三K党骑士团的头目，这是一个白人至上主义团体，由大卫·杜克于 20 世纪 70 年代创立。

拉维尔发现，这个团体似乎急于重塑品牌形象。他们将名称缩短为“骑士党”，成员们告诉拉维尔，他们正试图将信息的核心重新聚焦于家庭和信仰。

但当拉维尔问到该团体的教堂是否欢迎黑人时，罗布的回答很简单。

“不，”罗布回答说，“因为这是一座白人民族主义教堂。”

三K党（KKK）在美国有着悠久的种族主义和暴力历史。该运动始于1865年内战结束后，是对政府扩大黑人和其他少数族裔公民权利努力的回应。

通过私刑和其他有针对性的暴力行为，三K党试图阻止非白人参与政府，并维持种族分裂。

罗布是一位基督教牧师，于 1989 年接任三K党的一个派别——三K党骑士团的领导人。此后，他一直试图扩大该组织的吸引力。

他将自己的头衔从“大巫师”改为“全国总监”，允许新成员通过邮件秘密参与，并在公共宣传活动中与三K党的暴力行为划清界限。

然而，他仍然坚持着他所在组织所宣扬的种族主义理念。

“你如何看待像佐兰·马姆达尼或阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德这样的政治人物？”拉维尔在采访中问罗布，他指的是两位自称穆斯林的美国知名政治人物。

“首先，他们不是美国人，”罗布说道。当拉维尔指出埃尔-赛义德出生在密歇根州时，罗布不以为然。“我不在乎他出生在哪里。他不是美国人。”

他接着区分了白人移民和非白人移民的子女。罗布说，只有白人外国人的子女才能成为美国人，“因为他们是白人”。

三K党骑士团是美国数十个白人至上主义组织之一。

南方贫困法律中心（一个倡导组织）估计，目前美国至少有 152 个这样的组织活跃，这是该组织所称的过去十年来不断上升的趋势的一部分。

就在今年，另一个白人至上主义组织“爱国者阵线”在独立日假期期间游行穿过华盛顿特区。

批评人士称，特朗普有时也会重复他们的言论。今年早些时候，特朗普告诉《纽约时报》，白人在学术等领域“受到了非常不公平的待遇”。

他还指示第二届政府解散多元化倡议，在他的领导下，政府对大学和耐克等公司是否存在歧视白人的行为展开了调查。

此外，特朗普在难民接收方面优先考虑南非白人，并错误地声称他们是“种族灭绝”的受害者。

罗布声称，白人民族主义情绪的抬头早在特朗普之前就开始了，早在 2008 年巴拉克·奥巴马当选美国首位黑人总统时就已经开始。

罗布说：“人们开始觉醒，对国家正在发生的事情感到愤怒。所以我们算是代表他们发声。”

不过，罗布也承认公众对加入像他所在的白人至上主义团体抱有疑虑。“至于人们是否真的会成为成员，这确实是他们有时不太愿意跨越的一条界限，”他说。

当被要求提供会员人数或提供证据来证明他的运动“正在获得越来越多的支持”时，他也拒绝了。

“也许我们错了。也许每个人都讨厌我们。我不知道，”罗布说道。