William Daniel Johnson, a white nationalist activist and author who heads a political group supporting Donald Trump, gave the Republican presidential front-runner's campaign $250.
Johnson leads the American National Super PAC, which last month issued a robocall asking Iowa voters to support Trump because of his anti-immigrant views. Johnson, who identified himself during the call as a “white nationalist,” told TPM he ultimately wants “a white ethno-state, a country made up of only white people.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center notes that Johnson wrote a book under a pseudonym in which he advocated “the repeal of the 14th and 15th amendments and the deportation of almost all nonwhite citizens to other countries. Johnson further claimed that racial mixing and diversity caused social and cultural degeneration in the United States.” Johnson regularly appears in white nationalist media. He donated to Ron Paul's presidential campaign in 2012.
According to Trump's third quarter Federal Election Commission (FEC) report, Johnson gave Donald J. Trump for President Inc. $250 in September. The address listed for Johnson's donation is the same address as the American National Super PAC and the West Coast office of the white nationalist American Freedom Party, which Johnson also chairs. Trump's latest FEC report, which was filed yesterday and covers campaign activity through the end of 2015, does not indicate that the Trump campaign refunded Johnson's contribution.
In recent months, several media outlets have documented how white nationalist figures have been supporting Trump's campaign. His candidacy has also been a fundraising engine for white nationalist media websites, which have praised Trump for spurring “unprecedented interest in” their ideology and putting their ideas “firmly in the mainstream.”
During a January 13 interview, CNN challenged Trump over his support from white nationalists. Trump responded that he “would disavow it, but nothing in this country shocks me. People are angry. They're angry at what's going on” with regard to illegal immigration. Johnson and fellow white nationalist robocaller Jared Taylor praised Trump's response. Johnson said “it was just a wonderful response. He disavowed us, but he explained why there is so much anger in America that I couldn't have asked for a better approach from him.”
UPDATE:
People For the American Way (PFAW) is calling on Trump to “immediately return” Johnson's contribution. In a February 2 statement, PFAW president Michael Keegan said:
Last year, when a White Nationalist was running racist robocalls backing Donald Trump, Trump brushed it off and said he would 'disavow' that kind of support. Now is his chance to show whether or not he means it by returning the contribution immediately. Trump can bash 'political correctness' all he wants, but anyone who aspires to our nation's highest office should understand that cashing checks from those pushing an explicitly racist agenda is unacceptable.