Minnesota Republicans have a problem on their hands with Royce White, a far-right Senate candidate who is under a protective order for allegedly being abusive toward his ex-wife and one of their children.
White is a former professional basketball player who has received support from allies of President Donald Trump’s, including Steve Bannon and Mike Lindell. I’ve previously written about his brazen misogyny, such as when he told Bannon that women have become “too mouthy” these days.
White is also a two-time election loser in Minnesota. Most recently, the state GOP endorsed him as its Senate nominee in 2024 — in a race he ultimately lost by a large margin to Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the Democratic incumbent.
But now White is in a feud with party leaders as they push him to leave the Senate race over revelations of a protective order issued by a judge that cites domestic abuse. White, who is fighting the order, has been ordered to stay away from his ex-wife for 50 years and their son for two years.
In court filings, White is accused of making numerous threats and being both physically and verbally abusive toward his former partner and their teenaged son. He refutes the allegations and is appealing judicial findings in the case, telling MPR News on Thursday the order is a “substantial miscarriage of justice” and “excessively punitive.”
According to MPR News, Hennepin County District Judge Kristen Marttila wrote that White’s ex-wife “is plainly in fear of him,” that the ex-wife’s testimony was “entirely credible” and that “within the context of their history and ongoing interactions, petitioner’s ongoing fear of physical harm from respondent is reasonable.” The report says the judge also cited an incident in which White allegedly shoved his son into a metal basketball rack — which White characterized to MPR News as “firm discipline.”
The candidate’s responses online have been more deranged. He has said Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, is “full of commies and traitors” and that he had “triggered the Minnesota libtards for disciplining my son.” After Minnesota GOP Chairman Alex Plechash called on him to end his campaign — in a push that has continued into this week — White posted a diatribe calling the chairman “Judas” and saying that Plechash is actually trying to clear the field for fellow Republican candidate Michele Tafoya, a former ESPN reporter.
“Never in 1000 years,” White said of ending his campaign.
It seems fair to say the state Republican Party, which may already be swimming upstream this election cycle thanks to Trump’s deadly and racist anti-immigrant crackdown in Minnesota, would probably like to be able to focus its attention on more pleasant things than these allegations.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.