On Tuesday night, Royce White, the Minnesota GOP-backed candidate to challenge U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, published a map to Twitter, now X, with the following caption: “Crime in Minneapolis… Out of control. Come now. Refund the police! #Good luck”
The sentiment was common for a political party that often seeks to make crime a centerpiece of its election campaigns.
The map, on the other hand, did not show any crime, but rather the location of 195 public drinking water sources in the city.
It is the latest in a long list of embarrassing situations for a candidate who has pleaded guilty to robbery and disorderly conduct, Supported conspiracy theories, denigrated women and LGBTQ peopleHe described himself as a “antisemitic” fell behind on child supportand he played fast and flexible with campaign financing laws.
It also reflects poorly on the state political party that endorsed it in May even though much of his story is public knowledge, and which has so far supported him as new revelations have emerged.
“He’s a very attractive guy,” said Minnesota Republican Party Chairman David Hann. he told KSTP late last month, after campaign financing irregularities emerged. “I think we have to give him the opportunity to present the case. He is the first African-American Senate member Minnesota has ever had and is 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 for comment, he responded to this journalist directly in X, saying “You’re a cuckold. We’re leaving the plantation… You and your weird liberal friends read it and cry.”
White appears to have taken the water fountain map from X user “Mpls Dad”, who I jokingly posted it on Monday. with the caption “Crime is absolutely out of control in this city.”
Precisely a minute later, posted a response The revealing map actually showed sources of drinking water.
“I didn’t expect anyone to actually believe it was a crime map,” Mpls Dad, who wishes to remain a pseudonym, said via direct message. “I can’t believe a LOT of people fell for it, especially a GOP-backed US Senate candidate.”
After users informed White that the map showed drinking water sources, not crimes, he edited the post to include a different untagged image. The new map showed the locations of shootings in the city in the last seven days.
But that map also does not support a message about “out of control” crime: city data shows that shootings are down about 17% year over year, and more than 33% when looking at the three-year average.
White has been active in the responses to his post, responding to the jibes by calling users “hairdressers” and “cuckolds.”
The contrast between whites and Jim Newberger, the Republicans’ pick to challenge Klobuchar in 2018, could not be starker. Newberger was an experienced state legislator who worked across the aisle with Democrats and provided 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 extreme figures increasingly welcome who had previously been restricted to the fringes of the party. Until recently, Minnesota Republicans were more skeptical of the party’s far-right turnan acknowledgment of political reality in a state where no Republican has won statewide office in nearly 20 years.
But that series of losses has sparked anger and resentment among the Republican base, leading to clashes between dominant figures urging moderation and far-right activists calling for war. The party’s continued embrace of a scandal-plagued candidate like White, one who struggles to get basic facts straight, suggests activists are winning the battle for the heart and soul of the Minnesota Republican Party.
