Buchanan's co-chairman is forced to step aside - Larry Pratt denied links to white supremacist groups and said that someone was trying to discredit the campaign.

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Patrick Buchanan's presidential campaign co-chairman was forced to take an abrupt leave of absence Thursday to answer allegations he has ties to white supremacists and militia organizations.

Buchanan said the aide, Larry Pratt, denied the claims but agreed to leave the campaign "to refute these charges."

Characterizing the assault as a "savage attack," Buchanan pledged to stand by Pratt.

"I would urge the gun owners of New Hampshire and America to stand by Larry Pratt and stand by me," he said during the debate among Republican presidential contenders
Thursday night.

Pratt is director of Gun Owners of America, a Falls Church, Va.-based group that reportedly has between 150,000 and 200,000 members.

Pratt, responding earlier in the day to the charges in a report by the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity, said he didn't share the views of everyone at such gatherings.

"We don't prioritize allies, we prioritize positions, and we're willing to go anywhere and work with anyone for our issue," Pratt said.

Pratt added, according to a report by the center, that he has worked in a coalition with The Fund for a Feminist Majority and "I have never been accused of being a feminist."

The charges are based on an investigation by the center that found Pratt has spoken before white supremacist groups and was an early advocate of the militia movement.

In its report, "Under the Influence: The 1996 Presidential Candidates and Their Campaign Advisers," the research organization, which focuses on ethics in government, alleges Pratt spoke alongside Mark Koernke, a militia leader from Michigan, at the Dallas Preparedness Expo 1995.

The center said anti-Semitic and racist literature is available at such events.

Pratt also spoke at an anti-government meeting in 1992 while looking into the Ruby Ridge, Idaho, incident in which federal agents killed the wife and son of white separatist Randy Weaver. A federal marshal also was killed during the siege.

The meeting was called by Pete Peters, leader of Christian Identity, which critics say supports violence to promote white supremacy. Other featured speakers included former Ku Klux Klan leader and Aryan Nation official Louis Bream and Aryan Nations Founder Richard Butler.

Although Buchanan said Pratt did not deny speaking before the groups, he said Pratt is a member of several organizations dedicated to promoting racial harmony. But Buchanan said after discussing the matter with campaign officials, Pratt agreed to give up his post "for the good of the campaign."

At a news conference, Pratt denied he holds any racist or anti-Semitic views and called the effort to link him to hate groups a move to smear Buchanan.

"I see this as a political effort, a tool to try to discredit the Pat Buchanan campaign," said Pratt, one of four co-chairmen listed on Buchanan's letterhead.

"I loathe the Aryan Nation and other racist groups with every fiber of my being."

Pratt said he stepped aside in order to "address these charges and put them to rest." He hopes to rejoin the Buchanan campaign later.

The incident comes just as Buchanan's bid for the Republican presidential nomination is enjoying a boost following his second-place finish, behind Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, in Monday's Iowa caucuses. The most recent Boston Globe poll shows Buchanan tied with Dole among New Hampshire voters.

GOP candidate Steve Forbes refused to speculate about how the charges could affect Buchanan's performance in next Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.

"I don't know the details. That's something you will have to talk to (Buchanan) about," the millionaire publisher said during a Nashua campaign stop.

Dole said he thought Pratt "ought to be fired" for associating with racists and anti-Semites.

Earlier, the Kansas senator began running a television ad that portrays Buchanan as "too extreme."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Copyright 1996, The Detroit News