White nationalist apologies for robocall calling Evan McMullin gay

William Johnson said that he was pushed to act because "the white birthrate is so astonishingly low"

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published November 3, 2016 1:08PM (EDT)

Supporter Alison Greathouse, left, poses with independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin during a University of Utah candidate forum, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, in Salt Lake City. McMullin answered questions at the forum, as he attempts to fend off a new wave of critiques from Republican Donald Trump's supporters who are trying to prevent McMullin from winning what has become a toss-up state.(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (AP)
Supporter Alison Greathouse, left, poses with independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin during a University of Utah candidate forum, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, in Salt Lake City. McMullin answered questions at the forum, as he attempts to fend off a new wave of critiques from Republican Donald Trump's supporters who are trying to prevent McMullin from winning what has become a toss-up state.(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (AP)

The white nationalist who sent robocalls earlier this week to Utah voters claiming independent candidate Evan McMullin was gay is now apologizing.

"I am sorry for the mean-spirited message and I humbly retract its contents," said William Johnson "I sent the robocalls out because Utah is a strong family-values state and America and the West is gripped by an extreme and fatal malady: failure to marry and have children. The white birthrate is so astonishingly low that Western Civilization will soon cease to exist. I felt Evan McMullin typified that perfidious mentality."

Johnson, the chairman of the American Freedom Party, attended Brigham Young University in Utah. He's a staunch supporter of Donald Trump.

"Donald Trump's campaign has repudiated my robocall and many people from Utah and beyond have excoriated me for it as well," Johnson added. "Just as Donald Trump has issued a heartfelt apology for his past locker room talk, I too issue a heartfelt apology for this robocall. I should not have sent it out. I am truly sorry."

The message sent out by Johnson claimed that “Evan is over 40 years old and is not married and doesn’t even have a girlfriend. I believe Evan is a closet homosexual.”

After denouncing McMullin for being "an open borders, amnesty supporter," Johnson also claimed that “Evan has two mommies. His mother is a lesbian, married to another woman. Evan is OK with that. Indeed, Evan supports the Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage.”

Although Johnson is now expressing contrition for his bigoted message, he initially felt his open acknowledgment of being a white nationalist would help its message.

"As a general rule, I find that there’s a much higher percentage of people who share messages from a white nationalist. If I were to call people and ask them to join Amway, it’s not going to get transferred at all," he told Salon.

Although McMullin does indeed have a lesbian mother, he opposes legal recognition of same-sex marriages.


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012 and was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022.

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