Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard gets first big name endorsement for presidency race... a former KKK leader

US Senator Tulsi Gabbard has won the approval of a former Ku Klux Klan leader, the latest far-right social media figure to endorse the presidential hopeful.

David Duke, former "Grand Wizard" of the KKK, filled his Twitter page with tweets praising the Democrat due to her criticism of Israel, before his endorsement was rebuffed by Gabbard.

"Tulsi Gabbard is currently the only Presidential candidate who doesn't want to send White children off to die for Israel," Duke tweeted.

He also posted an image of Gabbard on his Twitter banner, saying: "Tulsi Gabbard for President - Finally a candidate who will actually put America First rather than Israel First."

Duke has used his Twitter page to promote his white supremacist views and also strong support for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Gabbard has been roundly criticised by fellow Democrats for her supportive comments of the Assad regime and Russia, which is also engaged in a brutal war against opposition areas in Syria.

The Democrat also met Assad in Damascus in 2017, when the Syrian regime and Russia embarked on bloody offensives on opposition territories killing thousands of civilians.

Duke supported Trump during his campaign for president, before later turning on him.

Gabbard has rejected Duke's overtures.

"I have strongly denounced David Duke’s hateful views and his so-called 'support' multiple times in the past, and reject his support."

She also tweeted that she would meet the co-president of the Syrian Democratic Council, despite its links to the US-linked Kurdish People's Protection Units.

"Later tonight I'll welcome Syrian Kurdish leader, Ilham Ahmed, Co-President of the Syrian Democratic Council, as my guest to the State of the Union address. She has been a leader in the fight against [the Islamic State group] in Syria, and a strong advocate for peace," she tweeted.

This appeared to be a walk back from her previous strong opposition to US involvement in the Syria war.

On the weekend she tweeted:

"As commander-in-chief, I will work to end the new cold war, nuclear arms race and slide into nuclear war. That is why the neocon/neolib warmongers will do anything to stop me.