Ex-NBA draft pick Royce White wins surprise backing of Minnesota GOP in race against Amy Klobuchar
Ex-NBA player Royce White, who used to write phrases like “Trump won” and “Protect RFK Jr.” on his head for games, scored an endorsement from the GOP in Minnesota to take on Dem Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
White, 33 — a first-round NBA draft pick whose mental-health woes ended up sidelining him — notched a surprising 67% support during the state GOP’s convention in St. Paul’s RiverCentre on Saturday.
“Thank you MNGOP and delegates for endorsing me as candidate [sic] in the 2024 Minnesota United States Senate race. I’m at a loss for words and that takes a lot,” the 6-foot-8 former hoopster posted on X after the endorsement.
“The People Are Coming!” wrote White, who once led protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and is now a staunch backer of former President Donald Trump.
The GOP endorsement does not guarantee that White will clinch the party’s nomination, which will be determined in the Aug. 13 primary.
About half a dozen Republicans have expressed interest in the party nod to run for the seat, including former naval intelligence officer Joe Fraser, who had been considered the favorite in the quest for the GOP endorsement, according to the Star Tribune.
White was introduced at the convention with a video featuring former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who has long backed his bid.
A standout at Iowa State University, the 33-year-old White was drafted 16th overall by the Houston Rockets in 2012. However, he was often sidelined by debilitating anxiety that included a fear of flying.
White ultimately played in just three NBA games for the Sacramento Kings in March 2014 after they signed him to a 10-day contract. After more than two years out of basketball, White played professionally in Canada before joining Ice Cube’s Big3 basketball league.
While with the latter organization, White became known for scribbling messages on his head, including “Trump won,” “Free the Uyghurs” and “Protect RFK Jr.”
He first vied for political office in 2022, when he unsuccessfully competed in the GOP primary for the nod to challenge “Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)
White railed against the power of money in politics and lashed out at criticisms of his campaign’s financial state during his acceptance speech at the weekend convention.
As of its most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission, White’s campaign had just over $10,000 cash on hand.
“The reality is we need people now more than ever that can’t be bought,” White stressed during his speech. “They don’t have a price, and I can’t stress that to you enough.”
After landing the endorsement, White seethed at media reports noting his past marching with Black Lives Matter activists.
“I never marched with BLM, they marched with me… to The Federal Reserve,” he claimed on X. “As soon as the higher ups in BLM run mainstream media figured out I wasn’t there to pitch the same ol story and smart enough to speak about a much deeper money problem, they quickly decided this Black [sic] man’s life DOESN’T MATTER so much.”
After Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin in 2020, White called for deep reforms to policing.
“We’re talking about pushing the police all the way outside of the circle of trust and having them reestablish their entry into the circle of trust through their actions and through proving that they can be trusted in that circle,” he told Joy Reid on MSNBC in June 2020.
These days, White is also unapologetically backing Trump.
“Donald Trump could get up on stage, pull his pants down, take a s–t up at the podium, and I still would never vote for you f–king Democrats again,” he said in one clip highlighted on social media.
At times he has also trafficked in conspiratorial rhetoric. In 2022, for instance, he made dubious claims that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) husband was attacked “during a gay lovers sex quarrel.
“Pelosi’s husband was assaulted during a gay lovers sex quarrel. There, I said it for the dummy’s who can’t read between the lines. No 82 year old man survives a hammer assault, unless his assailant has a limp wrist. How’d he get in the house? Come on! “Where’s Nancy?” White posted on social media at the time.
Should White ultimately nab the GOP nomination, he will square off against Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who is vying for her fourth term in the upper congressional chamber.
Klobuchar, a former presidential contender, has $5.7 million cash on hand, according to the latest federal filings, and her seat is ranked as solid Democrat by the Cook Political Report.
During her past election, Klobuchar crushed her Republican foe 60.31% to 36.21%.
