This is a cherished notion held by a lot of Democrats desperate to distance themselves from their party's long history of racism and particularly of totally owning groups like the KKK. I've never come across or known anyone who ever has an actual functioning Republican who does the Byrd thing. It's not that the klan left the party, it's that the klan has simply mostly withered away. But what's left of it hasn't changed its political stripes, locations, or heritage. Those roots run very deep.Most of them left the party in the late 50s and 60s.
Southern Democrats - Wikipedia
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