Donald Trump included white nationalist on California delegate list
Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump's campaign blamed a "database error" after it was revealed that a prominent white nationalist was included in its list of 169 delegates from California.
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William Johnson was listed by the California Secretary of State's website as a Trump-friendly delegate from the 34th congressional district, first reported by Mother Jones. Johnson is the chairman of the American Freedom Party, which has been described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as "a political party initially established by racist Southern California skinheads that aims to deport immigrants and return the United States to white rule." The group was once named the American Third Position but changed its name in 2013.
Mother Jones reported that Johnson had applied to the campaign to be a delegate and was accepted on Monday. The pledge, signed by Johnson, said that he would cast all his ballots for Trump at the Republican convention, even if it went multiple ballots. He told Mother Jones that he found out that he had been selected in an email from a campaign official in California, Katie Lagomarsino.
"I just hope to show how I can be mainstream and have these views," Johnson told Mother Jones. "I can be a white nationalist and be a strong supporter of Donald Trump and be a good example to everybody."
In February, Johnson recorded a robocall on behalf of his super PAC, American National, urging support for Trump to stop the "gradual genocide against the white race," according to reports. The call went to multiple Super Tuesday states.
The Southern Poverty Law Center describes Johnson as an "uninspiring but determined white separatist." In 1985, Johnson proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would only allow "non-Hispanic white(s) of the European race" to become United States citizens.
The Trump campaign says it was a glitch in the system that allowed Johnson onto its slate and that he had actually been rejected.
"Upon careful review of computer records, the inclusion of a potential delegate that had previously been rejected and removed from the campaign's list in February 2016, was discovered," Trump California director Tim Clark said in a statement. "This was immediately corrected and a final list, which does not include this individual, was submitted for certification."
Trump has found himself in hot water throughout the campaign season, as prominent white nationalists like David Duke have thrown him their support. Trump has disavowed them multiple times, but in one February interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, he set off a firestorm when he declined to disavow Duke in particular.
"Well, just so you understand, I don't know anything about David Duke. OK?" Trump said. "I don't know anything about what you're even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. So, I don't know."
However, multiple fact checkers found instances showing Trump had disavowed Duke throughout the years, at one point calling him "a big racist" in 2000.