Missouri GOP is working to remove candidate with ties to KKK who has been pictured performing Nazi salute at cross-burning

The Missouri Republican party has moved to block a man affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan from running as a GOP candidate for governor.

Darrell Leon McClanahan III, of Milo, Missouri, filed this week to run in the Republican primary for governor - one of eight Republicans who have filed to run.

McClanahan previously ran last cycle for an open Senate seat in Missouri. He garnered 0.2 percent of the vote in a contest ultimately won by now-Senator Eric Schmitt. 

On Thursday, the Missouri GOP disavowed McClanahan's entrance into the race, saying: 'The Missouri Republican Party has been made aware that Darrell Leon McClanahan III filed for Governor as a Republican despite his affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan, which fundamentally contradicts our party’s values and platform.'

In the left picture, McClanahan (center) is shown with Knights of the KKK Party leaders Thomas and Jason Robb. On the right, he is pictured beside a hooded Klansman at a cross burning in 2019

McClanahan has insisted to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he is 'not a Nazi' despite the photo

'We have begun the process of having Mr. McClanahan removed from the ballot as a Republican candidate,' they continued.

The statement also included a condemnation of hate groups and the proclamation that 'our party upholds respect for all individuals, and we’re dedicated to addressing any challenges to these principles decisively.' 

In 2022, the Anti-Defamation League published an article that included a picture of McClanahan with two men described as Knights Party leaders - the 'Knights of the Ku Klux Klan' is a modern offshoot of the KKK.

Another picture seemingly shows McClanahan at a 2019 cross burning.

In the picture, McClanahan stands beside a person wearing a white KKK robe and pointed hat. Both men have their right arm raise in what appears to be a Nazi salute.

On Thursday, McClanahan told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he is 'not a Nazi.'

'I don't believe in heil Hitler,' he said, claiming the photo is merely 'a bad picture of me.'

With regard to the photo of himself with the Knights leaders, McClanahan said: 'That's me. Yeah, that's me.'

McClanahan sued the ADL last year for defamation in a case that was transferred to the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri before being dismissed in December.

Though the Missouri GOP claim they accepted his filing fee unknowingly, McClanahan says they knew exactly who he was when he registered to run

In his original petition to the court, McClanahan described himself as a 'Pro-White man, horseman, politician, political prisoner-activist who is dedicated to traditional Christian values.'

The suit goes on to claim that McClanahan does not belong to the KKK. Though, it subsequently says he was 'provided an Honorary one-year membership.' 

McClanahan attempted to clarify to the Post-Dispatch that the membership was referring to the League of the South - a self-proclaimed 'southern nationalist' group that advocates for the 'cultural as well as political secession' of the former Confederate states.

The petition also seems to address the cross-burning picture, which is referred to as a 'private religious Christian Identity Cross lighting ceremony' in 2019. 

Former state Representative Shamed Dogan, who was the sole black Republican lawmaker in the state legislature while he was in office, highlighted the McClanahan issue to the state party on X.

'Hey @MissouriGOP just learned the candidate listed first on our primary ballot for Governor is a cross-burning KKK member who ran for US Senate 2 years ago and freely admits his KKK membership & white supremacist beliefs,' he wrote, adding that the body should reject the wannabe politician's filing fee.

'Please tell me you're gonna ... reject this racist loser's filing fee?' he said.