Is former Klan leader looking for 'bromance' with Assad?

White supremacist and Donald Trump supporter David Duke describes himself on his Twitter page as "one of the 100 most read and quoted people in the world". 

We're not sure who is exactly doing the counting, but the former Knights of the Ku Klux Klan leader is a prolific Twitter user who churns out more tweets per hour than Trump at his more irate.

Although most of hate-filled messages are directed at Jews, Muslims and the "liberal media" he still finds time to reach out to those few people in the world he actually likes and admires. 

One of those is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The mass-murdering regime leader in Damascus has been subject to a slurry of grovelling tweets over the past two-days by the white supremacist.

"Brilliant interview conducted by a Chinese journalist," Duke said in one tweet on Monday.

It was linked to a video showing Assad making the fawning reporter laugh when the president cringingly referred to Syria's emergency response team The White Helmets as "al-Qaeda" and "terrorists".

A day earlier when someone described the Syrian leader as a war criminal, Duke jumped to his defence.

"Assad is a modern day hero standing up to demonic forces seeking to destroy his people and nation - GOD BLESS ASSAD!" he said, obviously oblivious to the fact of who really is doing the destroying in Syria.

Hours earlier in another pro-Bashar tweet - showing a Syrian woman riding in a car decked in the regime flag with Assad's face decked across the windscreen - he used the hashtag #TrumpRussia. 

— David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) March 13, 2017" style="color:#fff;" class="twitter-post-link" target="_blank">Twitter Post President Assad solves problems - DEATH TO ISIS & ALL THEIR SUPPORTERS! Does (((AMERICA))) have a problem with that?#TrumpRussia pic.twitter.com/dSNnsPLbPD — David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) March 13, 2017

"President Assad solves problems - DEATH TO ISIS & ALL THEIR SUPPORTERS! Does (((AMERICA))) have a problem with that?" he said.

This message appeared to be directed at the US president who has also spoken positively of Assad in the past.

David Duke is one of the most reviled people in 20th and 21st century US politics. But he has managed to have a hit-and-miss career in politics as a former member of the Louisiana house of representatives until 1992 when he largely fell into obscurity.

With the election of Donald Trump and his administration's links to far-right groups in the US, Duke is likely eying a possible comeback.

Duke's recent statements of support for Bashar al-Assad aren't new.

Duke visited Syria in 2005 and heaped praise on its leader, likely due to Assad's association with the so-called "Axis of The Resistance" against Israel.

But words are about as far as Assad ever got to defying Israel and Bashar instead turned his guns on the Syrian people.

Perhaps the most bizarre of the tweets sent by Duke in support of Assad was one showing Bashar and his wife Asma surrounded by children.

"This is what true love, loyalty looks like."

We don't know if he was referring to Asma or the children, but the image is a chilling contrast to the fate of tens of thousands of other Syrian kids who have been murdered by Bashar's bombs. 

 

— David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) March 13, 2017 " style="color:#fff;" class="twitter-post-link" target="_blank">Twitter Post This is what true love, loyalty looks like - The real -> #TheResistance... pic.twitter.com/0rrrt3Cw29 — David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) March 13, 2017