A white nationalist group began distributing a robocall endorsing Donald Trump to all Wisconsin landlines Saturday in advance of the April 5 primary.
The ad features a member of the American Freedom Party describing her reasons for voting for Trump and encourages listeners to do the same. The calls were funded by William Johnson, whom the narrator describes as “a farmer and white nationalist,” and it also claims affiliation with the American National Super PAC.
The American Freedom Party, formerly known as the American Third Position Party, is based on the promotion of white supremacy. According to a website mission statement, “The American Third Position exists to represent the political interests of White Americans.” The group is monitored by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an American nonprofit organization which tracks extremist groups.
According to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, Johnson revealed the cost of the robocall to be about $6,000. He gauged responses to the call as less negative than in other states, attributing this to a less controversial script and a narrator with a “sweet, grandmotherly voice.”
The reader of the script says Trump will “help preserve Western civilization.” Johnson told the Sentinel that he regards the brief mention to white nationalism as important.
“I want people to hear, to feel comfortable with, the term ‘white nationalist,’” he said.
The Southern Poverty Law Center reports the American Freedom Party as being "established by racist Southern California skinheads that aims to deport immigrants and return the United States to white rule." The ad was denounced by key players in the Republican Party, including a Trump spokeswoman and Gov. Scott Walker.
