Well, first off, Mr. Blitzer, I resent the introduction you made of me. You mentioned the Ku Klux Klan 11 times. That was over 30 -- well, 30 years ago in my life, and since that time I got elected to the House of Representatives, I became -- and I received a full doctorate, I have been a teacher, I have one of the best selling books in the world.
And you interview many former communists in governments all over the world and you don't introduce them by saying former communist and certainly not 11 times. I think you're biased because you're a former lobbyist for AIPAC. You're a Jewish extremist, supporter of Israel, so you want to bias anyone who criticizes Zionism.
Nice way to start an interview, wouldn't you say? Blitzer then asked, “Well, do you hate Jews?” Duke responded:
No, I don't. Do you hate people who don't want to be controlled? Do you hate Americans who don't want the Israeli lobby to have Americans fight and die and thousands maimed because Israel wants it in the Middle East? We have a war in Iraq because Israel wanted that war, not for American interests.
Duke then went on a typical anti-Semitic, anti-Israel rant about Jews controlling American foreign policy. Blitzer appropriately responded:
Well, let me interrupt for a moment, Mr. Duke. As far as I know, the president of the United States, who is the commander in chief, is not Jewish. The vice president of the United States is not Jewish. The secretary of defense is not Jewish. The national security advisor to the president, not Jewish. The director of the CIA, not Jewish. Are these people simply tools of the Zionist conspiracy?
Duke came back:
They're not tools of a conspiracy, but they are definitely tools of the Zionist media and political power. Even the "Washington Post" said that 60 percent of the contributions for the Republican Party come from Jewish sources. Plus, if any politician in America dares to criticize Israel, millions will go to his opponents and he will be attacked in the media where Zionists have incredible power.
Even the "Jewish Chronicle," the "Jewish Los Angeles Times" -- excuse me, not the "Los Angeles Times," the "Jewish Times of Los Angeles" stated that four of the five conglomerates of -- the largest media conglomerates are owned by Jews, and the fifth is even more pro- Israel than some of those conglomerates. We have a controlled media in the United States, and that's why we're not hearing the truth about this conference.
After this rant, Blitzer appropriately asked his guest if the media are controlled by Jews, why Duke would be getting this interview This incited quite an exchange:
BLITZER: And the question is...if we invited you on, why is there a Zionist conspiracy if we're letting you on television right now? How do you explain that?
DUKE: How do I explain that? I think that you can't affect the news. You've got -- I think you have to put some spin on what's happening in Iran.
BLITZER: But we didn't have to invite you on CNN.
DUKE: And you want to -- it's an attack mode, always an attack mode when people like myself come on there. But you thought you could handle me with your 11 connotations of the Ku Klux Klan.
BLITZER: All right, let me...
DUKE: But you know something? You can't handle me, and you can't handle the truth, and the fact is, you are an agent of Zionism. You work for AIPAC...
BLITZER: Listen -- all right. Listen.
DUKE: ... the lobby in this country that controls Israeli policy.
BLITZER: Listen, Mr. Duke...
DUKE: You're not an honest broker on television.
BLITZER: ... I am going to read to you what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said...
DUKE: You're an Israeli agent.
Finally, Blitzer read some quotes of Iran’s despicable despot, and Duke actually defended him:
BLITZER: All right. I'm going to read to you what Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, has said and then you can respond if you agree of disagree with him. "Israel must be wiped off the map and, God willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism."
That's what he said on October 28th, 2005, according to Al- Jazeera.
DUKE: All right, first off, that's a complete misquote. He never said wipe off the map, and he was talking about the Zionist control of the United States. In fact, I heard his last speech, and I read articles all over the world where he said Israel will be wiped off the map.
He said Israel would have a change in government just as the Soviet Union changed. Obviously, the Russian people weren't killed. Israel wasn't wiped out, and this was to garner hatred against Iran to support the Holocaust and maybe the nuclear strike against Iran.
BLITZER: Well, what about when he says we "shall experience a world" -- when he says we should "soon experience a world without the United States"?
DUKE: I'm sorry, sir. I couldn't hear you.
BLITZER: When he says we should "soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism."
DUKE: I know what the translation was. He was referring to the control -- Israel uses the United States as its proxy. They use the -- at Mahaper (ph) said from Malaysia, Israel is able to dominate our policy through their money, through their media control, and they're leading us to disaster.
Richard Pearl and Paul Wolfowitz he were the formulators of the Iraq war. Pearl, Wurmser and Feith wrote a paper for Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel calling for war against Iraq, Iran, and Syria. And that's exactly what we did. They made up the lice of weapons of mass destruction because Americans were not willing to die in thousands and spend billions of dollars for Israel's strategic objectives. That's the reality.
Amazing. What follows is a full transcript of this interview. And, if you like what you see here at NewsBusters, don't forget to vote for us as the Best Media Blog of 2006 here.
WOLF BLITZER: Joining us now live from Tehran is the former Louisiana state representative, David Duke.
Mr. Duke, thanks very much for coming in. What do you say to those who say -- who charge, and there are many, that you're there in Tehran at this Holocaust conference simply because you hate Jews?
DAVID DUKE: Well, first off, Mr. Blitzer, I resent the introduction you made of me. You mentioned the Ku Klux Klan 11 times. That was over 30 -- well, 30 years ago in my life, and since that time I got elected to the House of Representatives, I became -- and I received a full doctorate, I have been a teacher, I have one of the best selling books in the world.
And you interview many former communists in governments all over the world and you don't introduce them by saying former communist and certainly not 11 times. I think you're biased because you're a former lobbyist for AIPAC. You're a Jewish extremist, supporter of Israel, so you want to bias anyone who criticizes Zionism.
BLITZER: Well, do you hate Jews?
DUKE: No, I don't. Do you hate people who don't want to be controlled? Do you hate Americans who don't want the Israeli lobby to have Americans fight and die and thousands maimed because Israel wants it in the Middle East? We have a war in Iraq because Israel wanted that war, not for American interests.
They lied to us about weapons of mass destruction, and now they're trying to get America into war against Iran, and I think it would be a tragedy for this country, a tragedy for the world. And you don't like what I say against Zionism so you want to talk about the Ku Klux Klan rather than the issues facing the world...
BLITZER: Do you...
DUKE: ... the terrorism of the Israel state for instance.
BLITZER: Do you believe, Mr. Duke, that there was a Holocaust?
DUKE: I'm sorry? I believe, sir, that the only way we can know whether there was a Holocaust or the nature of it is freedom of speech. I don't think we should be locking people in prison in Europe, even elderly people in their 80s, because they dare to have a different opinion about an historical event.
The American government shouldn't be saying that the Iran conference -- the Iran conference was a conference for freedom of speech. I heard many mainstream Holocaust speakers at this conference, many. This conference allowed freedom of speech on the issue.
The American government and Tony Blair and George Bush should be saying its a disgrace that David Irving, a worldwide historian with books in almost every library in the world, is in prison right now in Austria because he said something the Zionists don't like about the Second World War.
BLITZER: Do believe in a two state solution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, a new state of Palestine living side by side with the state of Israel?
DUKE: I think that's probably the best solution. I think you have to ask the people who live there, of both Israel and the Arab countries. But I know one thing. You can't impose a solution from the Zionist's domination of American foreign policy.
Pearl and people like Wolfowitz, Feith, Wurmser, Kristol, Abrams -- we can go on and on. It sounds like a Jewish wedding. They have set American policy and they have hurt American interests in the Middle East. Just as I have said for years, as Walt and Mearsheimer of Harvard have said, it's a fact. And we are dying right now in Iraq because we're there for Israel's interests. We've gotten no oil out of this war. I said -- I went around the world, around the country before this war, and said there were no weapons of mass destruction.
BLITZER: Well, let me interrupt for a moment, Mr. Duke. As far as I know, the president of the United States, who is the commander in chief, is not Jewish. The vice president of the United States is not Jewish. The secretary of defense is not Jewish. The national security advisor to the president, not Jewish. The director of the CIA, not Jewish. Are these people simply tools of the Zionist conspiracy?
DUKE: They're not tools of a conspiracy, but they are definitely tools of the Zionist media and political power. Even the "Washington Post" said that 60 percent of the contributions for the Republican Party come from Jewish sources. Plus, if any politician in America dares to criticize Israel, millions will go to his opponents and he will be attacked in the media where Zionists have incredible power.
Even the "Jewish Chronicle," the "Jewish Los Angeles Times" -- excuse me, not the "Los Angeles Times," the "Jewish Times of Los Angeles" stated that four of the five conglomerates of -- the largest media conglomerates are owned by Jews, and the fifth is even more pro- Israel than some of those conglomerates. We have a controlled media in the United States, and that's why we're not hearing the truth about this conference.
This conference is about the fact that there must be freedom of speech. And this is insane that people are being criticized. This conference is being criticized when there are people in prison right now for freedom of their conscience.
BLITZER: If there's a controlled...
DUKE: Now, if you think that David Irving should be in prison right now in Austria -- I'm asking you a question, sir.
BLITZER: Well, I'm the one who asks the questions in these interviews...
DUKE: Do you think David Irving should be in prison in Austria for voicing an opinion?
BLITZER: ... and we invited you on. And the question is...
DUKE: Exactly.
BLITZER: ... if we invited you on, why is there a Zionist conspiracy if we're letting you on television right now? How do you explain that?
DUKE: How do I explain that? I think that you can't affect the news. You've got -- I think you have to put some spin on what's happening in Iran.
BLITZER: But we didn't have to invite you on CNN.
DUKE: And you want to -- it's an attack mode, always an attack mode when people like myself come on there. But you thought you could handle me with your 11 connotations of the Ku Klux Klan.
BLITZER: All right, let me...
DUKE: But you know something? You can't handle me, and you can't handle the truth, and the fact is, you are an agent of Zionism. You work for AIPAC...
BLITZER: Listen -- all right. Listen.
DUKE: ... the lobby in this country that controls Israeli policy.
BLITZER: Listen, Mr. Duke...
DUKE: You're not an honest broken on television.
BLITZER: ... I am going to read to you what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said...
DUKE: You're an Israeli agent.
BLITZER: All right. I'm going to read to you what Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, has said and then you can respond if you agree of disagree with him. "Israel must be wiped off the map and, God willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism."
That's what he said on October 28th, 2005, according to Al- Jazeera.
DUKE: All right, first off, that's a complete misquote. He never said wipe off the map, and he was talking about the Zionist control of the United States. In fact, I heard his last speech, and I read articles all over the world where he said Israel will be wiped off the map.
He said Israel would have a change in government just as the Soviet Union changed. Obviously, the Russian people weren't killed. Israel wasn't wiped out, and this was to garner hatred against Iran to support the Holocaust and maybe the nuclear strike against Iran.
BLITZER: Well, what about when he says we "shall experience a world" -- when he says we should "soon experience a world without the United States"?
DUKE: I'm sorry, sir. I couldn't hear you.
BLITZER: When he says we should "soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism."
DUKE: I know what the translation was. He was referring to the control -- Israel uses the United States as its proxy. They use the -- at Mahaper (ph) said from Malaysia, Israel is able to dominate our policy through their money, through their media control, and they're leading us to disaster.
Richard Pearl and Paul Wolfowitz he were the formulators of the Iraq war. Pearl, Wurmser and Feith wrote a paper for Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel calling for war against Iraq, Iran, and Syria. And that's exactly what we did. They made up the lice of weapons of mass destruction because Americans were not willing to die in thousands and spend billions of dollars for Israel's strategic objectives. That's the reality.
BLITZER: David Duke, we have to leave it there.
DUKE: And there are so many lies that are going on right now.
BLITZER: The satellite is about to go down. So we have to leave it right there. But you're in Tehran.
DUKE: Well, people can find information at DavidDuke.com -- DavidDuke.com.
BLITZER: I'm sure they'll have plenty of opportunities to hear what you have to say. That's it. David Duke joining us from Iran.
