GOP-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate mistakes drinking fountains for crime in map mix-up • Minnesota Reformer
On Tuesday evening Royce White, the Minnesota GOP-endorsed candidate to challenge U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, posted a map to Twitter, now X, with the following caption: “Crime in Minneapolis…Out of control. Come on now. Refund the police! #Godspeed” The sentiment was standard fare for a political party that often seeks to make crime a centerpiece […] Royce White, the Minnesota GOP-endorsed candidate to challenge U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, posted a map to Twitter claiming that crime in Minneapolis was "out of control". However, the map showed the locations of 195 public drinking fountains in the city. This is part of a series of embarrassments for White, who has previously admitted to theft and disorderly conduct, endorsed conspiracy theories, denigrated women and LGBTQ people, and fell behind on child support. The mistake reflects poorly on the state political party that endorsed him in May, despite his history being public knowledge. Despite these issues, White has stood by the Minnesota Republican Party.
Published : 3 weeks ago by Christopher Ingraham in Politics
On Tuesday evening Royce White, the Minnesota GOP-endorsed candidate to challenge U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, posted a map to Twitter, now X, with the following caption: “Crime in Minneapolis…Out of control. Come on now. Refund the police! #Godspeed”
The sentiment was standard fare for a political party that often seeks to make crime a centerpiece of its election campaigns.
The map, on the other hand, didn’t show crime at all, but rather the locations of 195 public drinking fountains in the city.
It’s the latest in a long line of embarrassments for a candidate who has himself pled guilty to theft and disorderly conduct, endorsed conspiracy theories, denigrated women and LGBTQ people, described himself as an “antisemite,” fallen behind on child support, and played fast-and-loose with campaign finance laws.
It also reflects poorly on the state political party that endorsed him in May despite much of his history being public knowledge, and which so far has stood by him as new revelations have surfaced.
“He’s a very engaging guy,” Minnesota Republican Party chairman David Hann told KSTP late last month, after the campaign finance irregularities surfaced. “I think we have to give him the opportunity to make the case. He’s the first African American for Senate Minnesota has had and he’s a Republican. That’s a very good thing, and we’re going to try to work with him and see what we can do.”
After the Reformer reached out to White’s campaign requesting comment, he replied to this reporter directly on X, saying “You’re a cuck. We’re leaving the plantation… You and your weird liberal buddies read it and weep.”
White appears to have lifted the drinking fountain map from X user “Mpls Dad,” who jokingly posted it on Monday with the caption “Crime is absolutely out of control in this city.”
Precisely one minute later, he posted a reply revealing the map actually showed drinking fountains.
“I didn’t expect anyone to actually believe it was a crime map,” Mpls Dad, who wishes to remain pseudonymous, said via direct message. “I can’t believe SO MANY people fell for it, especially a GOP-endorsed US Senate candidate.”
After users informed White that the map showed drinking fountains, not crime, he edited the post to include a different unlabeled image. The new map showed the locations of shots fired in the city in the last seven days.
But that map doesn’t support a message about “out of control” crime either: data from the city shows that shots fired are down by about 17% year-over-year, and by more than 33% when looking at the three-year average.
White has been active in the replies to his post, responding to mockery by calling users “groomers” and “cucks.”
The contrast between white and Jim Newberger, Republicans’ choice to challenge Klobuchar in 2018, couldn’t be starker. Newberger was an experienced state legislator who worked across the aisle with Democrats and gave emergency first aid to DFL governor Mark Dayton after he collapsed during the 2017 state of the state address.
Since elevating Donald Trump in 2015 the national Republican Party has increasingly welcomed extreme figures who had previously been restricted to the margins of the party. Until recently Minnesota Republicans were more skeptical of the party’s hard-right turn, an acknowledgment of political reality in a state where no Republican has won statewide office in nearly 20 years.
But that string of losses has stirred up anger and resentment among the GOP base, leading to clashes between mainstream figures urging restraint and hard-right activists calling for war. The party’s continued embrace of a scandal-plagued candidate like White, one who has difficulty getting basic facts straight, suggests the activists are winning the battle for the heart and soul of Minnesota’s GOP.
Topics: GOP