KKK Leader Allegedly Claims 'Support for Us Is Growing' Ahead of 2026 US Midterm Elections

KKK leader Thomas Robb has told Al Jazeera's Phil Lavelle at his organisation's Arkansas headquarters that America's political climate is increasing support ahead of the 2026 US midterm elections.

Robb leads the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which is trying to rebrand around family and faith. Lavelle's report examines that effort against the Klan's history of burning crosses and lynchings of Black people and its uncertain ability to convert sympathy into membership.

KKK Growth Claim Lacks Membership Evidence

'Support for us is growing. There's no question about that,' Robb stated. He attributed the claimed increase to people becoming angry about what they see happening in the country, presenting his organisation as a voice for those concerns.

Yet he distinguished sympathetic support from the decision to join. When Lavelle pressed him to quantify support and discuss membership, Robb supplied no total and responded, 'Maybe we're wrong. Maybe everybody hates us. I don't know.'

His assessment of the organisation's strength was more direct. 'Not strong at all. Not strong,' he acknowledged, describing it as 'a voice in the wilderness'. IBTimes UK cannot independently verify the claimed rise in support.

Racial Exclusion Shapes the KKK Message

The attempt to revise the group's public image has limits. Robb told Lavelle that a Black person would not be welcome at the headquarters church because it was a white nationalist church. The report also noted that Klan robes were still worn at times.

He refused to regard politician Abdul El-Sayed as American, even after Lavelle pointed out that El-Sayed was born in the country. Robb accepted white Christians with parents from Ireland or Italy as American, explicitly attributing that distinction to their race.

Lavelle also examined Patriot Front, a separate white supremacist group whose marches have attracted viral attention. Its slogan, 'American by blood', provided another example in the report of a movement defining national identity through ancestry.

Online Extremists Outpace This KKK Leader

The Klan has expanded from printed newsletters into online activity, but Lavelle reported that Robb's audience numbered only in the dozens. The report contrasted that reach with a newer generation of white nationalists attracting much larger audiences through other people's platforms.

Among them was Nick Fuentes, whose interview with Tucker Carlson drew criticism on the political right. Despite Fuentes's Instagram ban, Anti-Defamation League research cited in the report identified 105 accounts linked to his movement, with around 1.4 million followers between them.

Those figures concern the separate network associated with Fuentes and offer no measure of Robb's membership claims.

Harrison Residents Put Bills Before KKK Politics

In nearby Harrison, the priorities described by residents differed from those at the compound. Lavelle reported that paying bills was the leading concern among the people he interviewed, despite the Klan's efforts to promote its message to visitors arriving in town.

'No one cares about the color of the person's skin next to them if they are not able to provide for their family,' resident Layne Wheeler told him.

Robb, by contrast, defended Donald Trump's record and indicated that even steep increases in fuel prices mattered less to him. Al Jazeera's report also cited a poll suggesting the cost of living would be the single biggest issue for nearly half of voters.