Trump Campaign: Listing Prominent White Nationalist As Potential California Delegate Was Mistake

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A computer mistake is blamed for listing a prominent white nationalist, who is also a Los Angeles attorney, to be on a list of Donald Trump's potential California delegates.

Tim Clark, the California director for the presumptive GOP presidential nominee's campaign, released a statement citing a "database error" for including William Johnson.

He said he received an email from Clark earlier Tuesday informing him that his name had been "erroneously listed" as a delegate.

But Johnson told CBS2/KCAL9's Serene Branson he applied to be a state delegate, believed he was vetted before being put on the list and does not think it was a mistake. He spent his own money on robocalls and a hotline for Trump supporters, he added.

Johnson, who is chairman of the American Freedom Party and is against immigration, said "I was approved. And then, I was a delegate in good standing for two hours."

"I was naive. I thought that I could be a delegate; I could be supportive; And my white nationalism would not be an issue. But I was wrong," he said.

"They can't be distracted by my being a delegate. I understand in retrospect I shouldn't have applied. This type of controversy does not help the campaign," Johnson added.

He claimed he never disclosed his white nationalist beliefs in his application.

Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Mark Paustenbach released this statement: "Trump's racist, xenophobic candidacy continues to fuel a resurgence of white nationalism in the United States, and to elevate a man like this shows that Trump has neither the temperament nor judgment to serve as president."

Trump had been criticized for being too slow to distance himself from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who said not voting for Trump was "treason to your heritage."