Royce White grew up in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood and became a standout high school basketball player who went on to play college and professional basketball.  Now he might have the most unusual resume of any statewide endorsed candidate in either the Republican or Democratic parties in Minnesota.

“I talked about the obscenity of money in politics and just how corrupt our country has become systemically, institutionally, at a government level, but much broader as well,” White said in an interview with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, his first television interview since his endorsement on Saturday.

He won 67%  support on the first ballot after delivering a blistering message about big government.

“The government is too big and it’s mostly corrupt,” he told delegates at the Republican state convention. “If you believe the government is too big and it’s corrupt, you can never vote to make it bigger.”

That message seemed to resonate with delegates, but it’s unclear how many of them were familiar with his controversial past involving social media posts and civil court actions.

White has a thick file of court judgments in several Minnesota counties ranging from evictions to failure to pay child support to unpaid business debts.

When asked if voters should be concerned about electing him to make laws in the U.S. Senate with so many legal challenges of his own, he said he thinks most people can relate to financial difficulties.

“I think the country’s $36 trillion in debt. I think credit card debt is as high as it’s ever been. I think the average American citizen understands being in debt,” he said.

Then there are controversial social media posts, including some in which he’s reposted messages from Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, an avowed antisemite.

“The Nation of Islam has always been an organization that promoted strong, young, disciplined men. Young, educated, Black men,” White says, while disavowing Farrakhan’s antisemitism.

However, White once described himself on X, formerly Twitter, as “…sexist, Misogynist, Homophobic, Transphobic, Xenophobic, Antisemitic.”

“I mean that’s just ridiculous,” he says of people who took that biography seriously. “I mean, it’s like we have this alternative reality that we judge our public figures or athletes — or now in this case, politicians — by words. We can’t be facetious or humorous? I was posting a list of all the things I’ve been called that were ridiculous.”

When asked if he understands voters might look back at his postings and wonder about him, he says he does not.

“I understand that the mainstream media industrial complex in this country and the effect that it’s had on the mind of the average American citizen often makes it gravitate toward superficial stuff like that,” he said.

White also acknowledges his campaign will need to raise money even though he finds the political system to be corrupt. His campaign, according to the Federal Election Commission, has about $10,000. Democrat Amy Klobuchar has about $6 million cash on hand. 

It’s unclear if White will face a primary challenge from Joe Fraser, who was the perceived favorite for the GOP endorsement, before the convention.

Watch the full interview below, including White’s views on taxes, immigration, Social Security and funding for Ukraine and Israel: