Jason Miczek / Reuters
The leader of a white-supremacist group mentioned in Dylann Roof’s manifesto donated tens of thousands of dollars to Republicans, including presidential candidates Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Rick Santorum, The Guardian reported Sunday. Earl Holt, president of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC), reportedly gave $65,000 to Republican campaign funds in recent years as he allegedly posted online that black people were “the laziest, stupidest, and most criminally inclined race in the history of the world.” Cruz’s presidential campaign said it would return all the money the senator has received from Holt, while Paul's campaign said it would donate the $1750 donation to Mother Emanuel Hope Fund. Roof, who is accused of killing nine people at a Charleston church, allegedly credits the CofCC with helping to radicalize him. Scott Walker allegedly also received money from the organization, all of which he plans to forfeit, according to a Monday report from The Guardian.