White supremacist David Duke earned just enough support in his U.S. Senate race in Louisiana to qualify for a televised debate — which will be held at a historically black college.
Duke is polling at 5.1% in an independent Raycom Media poll, which narrowly surpasses the 5% mark necessary to participate in the Nov. 2 debate at Dillard University in New Orleans.
“That’s amazing,” Duke told the Acadiana Advocate when he learned he would qualify — but expressed concern about security at the historically black school.
“Dillard is pretty supportive of Black Lives Matter, and I’ve been pretty critical of them,” Duke said.
The 66-year-old once branded the social justice movement a "a terrorist organization" that advocates for the "murder of police officers."
A spokesperson for Dillard University, a private liberal arts college, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Duke, a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and Nazi sympathizer, injected himself into the presidential campaign when he voiced his support for Donald Trump’s candidacy in February. Trump was criticized for being sluggish in disavowing Duke's support and distancing himself from the white supremacist.
In July, Duke announced his bid for a U.S. Senate seat by declaring that “the climate of this country has moved in my direction,” and alluded to Trump's candidacy by saying that Americans are finally “embracing the core issues I have fought for my entire life."
Duke served a short stint in the Louisiana State House starting in 1989 and was a perennial political candidate throughout the '90s. His Senate bid for Sen. David Vitter's (R-La.) seat is his first run for office since 1999.
Five other candidates polling higher than Duke also qualified for the Nov. 2 debate. Louisiana State Treasurer John Kennedy, a Republican, is leading the race at 24%, according to the Raycom Media poll.