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| David Duke |
A major publisher of diet and health books says one of its writers, a Milwaukee cardiologist, was deceived by a controversial ex-Congressman from Louisiana, Dr. David Duke – a man the Anti-Defamation League calls “perhaps America’s most well-known racist and anti-Semite” – into appearing on his radio show.
Danielle Lynn, public relations manager for Rodale Books, says Duke contacted the author, Dr. William Davis, in early 2012 and claimed to be a “Dr. Duke” from “Europe.” Apparently not realizing with whom he was speaking, Davis agreed to tape a segment that aired on Duke’s satellite radio show on Feb. 10, 2012, and again on March 12.
Lynn says Davis receives about 20 media-related requests a day, “in addition to other opportunities that we secure for him.” But “in this instance, he was contacted directly and intentionally misled about the true identity of the host.”
“The substance of the interview that took place was entirely book-focused and did not veer into any other topics,” she says.
Davis’ health and weight-loss guide, “Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health” has sold remarkably well since its release in late 2011. As of Monday, it was holding strong as the 10th highest-selling book on Amazon’s Best Seller list, and a spin-off, the “Wheat Belly Cookbook,” was ranked fifth.
Sales escalated most dramatically in late 2012, around the time Davis appeared on the nationally-syndicated “Dr. Oz Show.”
Elected to the U.S. House in 1990, Duke is a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and the author of two books: “My Awakening” and “Jewish Supremacism: My Awakening to the Jewish Question.”
He typically uses his radio show as a platform to espouse his theories of “Jewish supremacism” and “Jewish extremism.”
His honorary doctorate was awarded by the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management in Ukraine, a private university that a 2008 State Department report called “one of the most persistent anti-Semitic institutions in Eastern Europe.”
Duke didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
Davis’ appearance on Duke’s show was first reported on Peter Heimlich’s blog, The Sidebar.
(image taken from youtube.com)
