Who is Royce White, the basketball star challenging Sen. Amy Klobuchar?

On paper, Royce White seems like an ideal political outsider. He's a charismatic, high-profile public figure with a compelling personal narrative and pre-existing fan base from his time as a professional athlete and broadcaster. In that sense, the Minnesota Republican Party's choice to tap White — a former college basketball star, first-round NBA draft pick, mental health advocate and popular podcast host — as their endorsed candidate to take on Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar is fairly understandable. 

Similarly understandable, however, is the fact that White's endorsement came "qualified, with reservations." White, who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) in 2022, has long courted the fringes of his party's extreme right wing with inflammatory and often offensive rhetoric about women, Jewish people, the LGBTQ+ community, and others. White has also been accused of owing significant back child support payments, as well as of "outrageous" campaign finance violations by the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, which recently filed a complaint against the candidate with the Federal Elections Commission. 

White's endorsement marks a significant moment for the Minnesota GOP, which has struggled to win statewide office for years. It's also another litmus test for Republicans as they continue to experiment with down-ticket candidates during election cycles dominated by Donald Trump. 

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'An unusual candidate. There's no question about it.'

While Minnesota Republicans "overwhelmingly" backed White's endorsement, he's "gotten major pushback" from "three of the last Republicans to win a statewide race in Minnesota — former senators Rudy Boschwitz and Norm Coleman as well as former Gov. Tim Pawlenty," CBS News said. For his part, White has rejected their criticisms, claiming their style of Republican politics has "never really been very successful" at bringing in younger voters and voters of color. "They are connected to over 30 years of statewide losses in the Republican party," White said.

White is "an unusual candidate," state party Chair David Hann said to ABC affiliate KTSP. "There's no question about it." Nevertheless, "we have to give him the opportunity to make the case," Hann told the station, which reported that "no one has asked to rescind [White's] endorsement and the party doesn't even have a mechanism to do that." White's endorsement "reflects poorly on the state political party," which knew of many of his controversies before his endorsement, and "which so far has stood by him as new revelations have surfaced," the left-leaning Minnesota Reformer said. White will likely be a "gift to Democrats this cycle," especially as Republicans hope to "exploit liberal divides over Israel," The New York Times said. 

'The support of national far-right Republican figures'

While some Minnesota conservatives have attributed White's party endorsement to "low convention turnout and a flawed nominating process," it can also be attributed to the "support of national far-right Republican figures" such as Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), InfoWars host Alex Jones, and top Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who introduced White at the party convention, The Star Tribune said. Bannon in particular has been "central to White's triumph," the Times said, having urged followers in 2020 to "seize control of the Republican Party by flooding it at the precinct level." White's trajectory "looks like a fruit of that strategy." 

White is part of a "national trend of preferring 'slash and burn' candidates" who conservative voters hope will "battle with the establishment over more moderate — and in many cases more electable — alternatives," MinnPost said. At the same time, he may "affect the party's chances at winning down-ballot races this cycle because candidates will now be asked if they support White," The Star Tribune said. 

Crucially, White is not yet the Minnesota GOP's official Senate nominee. After initially pledging to respect the party's endorsement, first-time candidate Joe Fraser reversed course and announced this month he would continue to pursue the nomination in the August GOP primary. With White on the ballot, Democrats will "win, and win big this fall," Fraser said in a campaign video. White's controversial remarks and finances would ultimately "impact President Trump's opportunities here in the state as well as down-ballot."

White faces an "uphill battle," said MSNBC's Ja'han Jones. He's also proof that Democrats should pay attention to the "right-wing podcast world," which is where "conservative celebrities are created, narratives are spun and campaigns are launched."