A radio program promoted by longtime Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke has rebranded itself “The Morning Aloha Report” and credited Tulsi Gabbard for the inspiration.

Formerly called “Stormfront Radio,” listeners of the white nationalist show were informed of the name change on Thursday by program host Patrick Slattery.

Quoting from Wikipedia, Slattery explained that aloha is defined as “love, affection, peace, compassion and mercy” and commonly used as a “simple greeting.”

But aloha, he added, “has a much deeper cultural and spiritual significance to Native Hawaiians.”

He continued: “According to Tulsi Gabbard, who I am not going to talk much about today … it is respect, I come at you with respect.”

Gabbard is a U.S. representative from Hawaii running for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. An inquiry to Gabbard’s campaign was not immediately responded to Monday.

Gabbard has previously denounced Duke and rejected his endorsement of her candidacy. After Duke urged President Trump in 2016 to pick Tulsi Gabbard as Secretary of State, she also disavowed that endorsement.

“U didn’t know I’m Polynesian/Cauc? Dad couldn’t use ‘whites only’ water fountain. No thanks. Ur white nationalism is pure evil,” she tweeted at the time.

A screen shot from David Duke’s Twitter feed, Nov. 11. 

During his radio show, Slattery argued that the audience of the program formerly known as “Stormfront” embodies the aloha spirit.

“We come at people with respect … we brought people … people formally known as whites who now can be known as aloha Americans or aloha Earthlings.”

Duke, who features a photo of Gabbard as the banner for his Twitter account, on Thursday tweeted that “Stormfront Radio” had rebranded and included a photo of Gabbard in a wetsuit and holding a surfboard.

White Supremacy

Duke, identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as “the most recognizable figure of the American radical right” and an “international spokesman for Holocaust denial,” posted the radio program’s link on his webpage along with the surfer photo of Gabbard with the caption “The aloha spirit will set you free.”

According to the SPLC, Stormfront was the “first major hate site” on the internet. It was founded by former Alabama Klan boss and “long-time white supremacist” Don Black. Black later launched “Stormfront Radio.”

It is not clear whether Black is still involved with the program, but Slattery mentions his name.

A screen shot from David Duke’s Twitter account, Nov. 11, 2019. 

In explaining the name change, Slattery equates white people with embodying the aloha spirit because of what he views as their contribution to the world.

A summary of “The Aloha Morning Report” on Duke’s website reiterates Slattery’s point:

Dr. Aloha said that whites embodied the aloha spirit when they ended slavery, a scourge to humanity that had persisted since time immemorial across the globe. He noted that whites had brought modern medicine and public health to the far corners of the earth, reducing infant mortality and doubling life expectancy. Their technology and culture have greatly enriched the lives of people everywhere.

While this process wasn’t always smooth or without ulterior motive, in general whites have shown tremendous altruism and thus truly embody the aloha spirit. He declared that henceforth we will be known as “Aloha-Americans.”

Slattery does not mention Gabbard again in the hour-long program Thursday.

But he or his callers mention King Kamehameha I, the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the late entertainer Don Ho. Native Hawaiians were “pushed aside” by immigrants from Japan and the mainland, and the overthrow is blamed on “American Jewish businessmen.”

The blurb for the rebranded show stated, “Instead of starting the show with refrains of the old Confederate standard ‘The South Will Rise Again,’ a heartfelt 1917 rendition of ‘Aloha Oe’ introduced the show.” It does not explain that “Aloha Oe” was written by Liliuokalani.

Also mentioned on the inaugural episode of “The Morning Aloha Report” are Donald Trump, “building the wall,” the murder of American Mormons in Mexico last week and the need to protect white people from minorities.

Slattery ends the program saying “Stay tuned for the David Duke show coming up next” as “The South Will Rise Again” plays in the background.

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