American racism is seeping into Europe -- despite a ban on white nationalist leaders

American white nationalists such as David Duke and Richard Spencer are banned from many European countries, but their racist ideas are finding a growing audience overseas.

Laws in some European countries prohibit the organization and assembly of overtly racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, but they often hide their intentions and affiliations to build followings, reported Washington Monthly.

A German parliamentary investigation found four active KKK groups, and Duke was found guilty in Italy of trying to start an overtly racist and anti-Semitic group called the European-American Unity and Rights Organization.

Spencer is banned from 26 European Union countries, but he and other online white nationalists exploit the migration of Middle Eastern refugees to build what Steve Bannon -- the former White House chief strategist -- calls "the Movement."

“Let them call you racists," Bannon told the French National Front earlier this year. "Let them call you xenophobes. Wear it as a badge of honor.”

European populists warn that immigrants will destroy their national cultures, and Italy and Hungary have each elected right-wing demagogues to top government positions.

Right-wing parties have also made gains in Germany, Sweden, Austria and elsewhere.

Back in the U.S., the Klan remains a fringe group, but its hateful ideology is spreading through newer groups and has found an apparent ally in President Donald Trump -- who Duke has enthusiastically endorse.