Well-Known White Nationalist Listed as Trump Delegate

The campaign blames a 'database error'
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted May 10, 2016 5:10 PM CDT
Well-Known White Nationalist Listed as Trump Delegate
Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Lynden, Wash., last Saturday.   (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

Donald Trump was revealed to have named "one of the country's most prominent white nationalists" as one of his delegates in California on Monday, Mother Jones reports. William Johnson is the leader of the American Freedom Party, which "represents the political interests of White Americans." According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Johnson has advocated for the deportation of anyone who isn't white, including anyone with an "ascertainable trace of Negro blood." He says he wants to show that white nationalism can be "mainstream." "I can be a white nationalist and be a strong supporter of Donald Trump and be a good example to everybody," Johnson tells Mother Jones. Johnson has spent $30,000 of his own money stumping for Trump.

On Tuesday evening, the Trump campaign released a statement blaming Johnson's inclusion as a delegate on a "database error," Slate reports. But the damage had been done. "To elevate a man like this shows that Trump has neither the temperament nor judgment to serve as president," the Democratic National Committee press secretary tells the Los Angeles Times, calling Trump's candidacy "racist" and "xenophobic." Vox reports Johnson's fervent support of Trump shows white nationalists see Trump's candidacy as their "best opportunity in years to break through to the mainstream." "For many, many years, when I would say these things, other white people would call me names: 'Oh, you're a hatemonger, you're a Nazi, you're like Hitler,'" Johnson tells Mother Jones. "Now they come in and say, 'Oh, you're like Donald Trump.'" (More Donald Trump stories.)

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