Ex-Trump delegate: 'I was naive' to think America had overcome prejudice against white supremacists

Is there any other group these days that's more unfairly maligned than white supremacists? We joke, of course, but that seems to be the argument that former Trump delegate and prominent white nationalist William Johnson made recently in an interview with Buzzfeed.

Specifically, Johnson talked about his harrowing but short-lived experience of being selected as a California delegate for Donald Trump at this year's Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Although the Trump campaign quickly moved to distance itself from Johnson after his racist views had been revealed, Johnson had initially held out hope that he'd be embraced so that he could practice his brand of white nationalism in the open and without fear of stigma.

"I was naive," Johnson told Buzzfeed. "I thought, Gee, I could participate in the electoral process just like everybody else. I thought I could participate and be productive and be a good example for the community and help promote my candidate, but that was not the case."

Of course, the best way he could be a good example to the community is to not be a white nationalist, but this doesn't seem to have dawned upon him.

At any rate, later in the article he and his fellow white nationalists nonetheless give Trump credit for opening the door for them so that their views may finally become part of mainstream political discourse in this country. With Trump as their leader, these long-suffering white nationalists believe that they shall overcome.