MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When longtime Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon surrendered at a federal prison in Connecticut, he asked an unconventional U.S. Senate candidate from Minnesota to stand at his side.
Royce White, seeking the Republican nomination in next week’s primary to challenge Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, put his arm around Bannon last month and praised him as “an American hero.”
White also counts among his friends conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and his past social media comments have been denounced as misogynistic, homophobic, antisemitic and profane. His legal and financial problems include unpaid child support and questionable campaign spending. As first reported by The Daily Beast, potentially illegal expenses included $1,200 spent at a Florida strip club after he lost a race for Congress in 2022.
Yet White stunned Minnesota’s political world in May when, with Bannon’s backing, he captured the state Republican Party’s endorsement to take on Klobuchar. He still needs a primary win on Tuesday and is an overwhelming underdog against Klobuchar in November.
But his surprise success in a state that has a history of electing unconventional candidates — like wrestler Jesse Ventura as governor and comedian Al Franken as senator — has made the race anything but the sleepy affair it was expected to be.
His journey from basketball player whose NBA career was cut short by mental health issues to politics is a sign of the growing power of the populist wing of the GOP that Bannon helped build. White has been a frequent guest on Bannon’s “War Room.”
It also speaks to the current condition of the Republican Party in Minnesota. It’s a state that has long been reliably Democratic in presidential politics, though Trump has vowed to compete there this year. Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice of current Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate on Tuesday further roils the state’s…
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