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As an NBA player, Royce White was a bust. The forward never played a game for the Houston Rockets, leading the team’s general manager to proclaim he could be the “worst” first-round pick ever.

Now, years removed from his lackluster basketball career, White is gunning for another unflattering title: worst Senate candidate in history!

While that might be a stretch (Roy Moore just took a loop around the local mall and says “hello”), White seems to be an exceptionally weak candidate. Nevertheless, the Minnesota GOP just endorsed him, putting the homophobic conspiracy theorist in a strong position heading into August’s primary.

White made a run at Rep. Ilhan Omar’s seat in 2022, but failed to survive the primary. This time, however, his path to the nomination appears to be open. There isn’t another big name or well-funded candidate in the race.

Like many other fringe GOP contenders, there are huge questions about White’s electability, especially in a blue state.

We can begin with his apparent disdain for gay people. White’s social media accounts are filled with posts using homophobic slurs, including at least seven with the word “f*g.”

In one post from January 2023, he calls reporters who critically covered his congressional campaign “beta, cuck, f*gs” who are “foot soldiers for the New World Order.” (White clarified he met “f*gs” in a non-sexual manner, FWIW.)

A few weeks prior, White called actor Sean Penn a “f*g,” begging his critics to “cancel deez nuts.”

As a player, White spoke openly about his struggles with mental illness, including a fear of flying. His anxiety prevented him from taking airplanes as an NBA player.

When the Rockets released White, he criticized the league for its lack of a mental health policy. The Iowa State grad continued his advocacy work through the 2010s, and took on a very visible role during the George Floyd protests. At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, he led a protest through Minnesota’s Twin Cities that swelled into the thousands

But when White talks about BLM now, he has a different opinion. He says the movement wants Black men to be “dead, gay, sold out, or on the wrong end of sexual harassment or Me Too allegations.”

When it comes to mental health, White’s views include a similarly anti-LGBTQ+ slant. He posted last fall that mental health is the “most important societal issue we face,” before clarifying he’s not talking about “woke mental health” with “tr***y Godmothers.”

“We’ve been brainwashed, anybody who dares to say it or do something about it is gaslit or taken out,” he said.

A regular on Alex Jones’ show, White always pushes the conspiracy theory that Nancy Pelosi‘s husband was attacked for his role in a “gay lover’s sex quarrel.”

With just $10,754.29 in his coffers, White is at a stark fundraising disadvantage. Amy Klobuchar, a strong favorite to keep her seat, currently has $5.8 million cash on hand. The two-term incumbent has won her two Senate races by nearly 30 points.

In a rare nod to reality, Republicans in Washington aren’t optimistic about White’s chances. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has declined to endorse him so far.

“I think they need to find candidates that can win both primaries and generals, and I think he’d have difficulty winning a general election,” NRSC chairman Steve Raines (R-Montana) told the Bulwark.

Still, it’s not like White’s ascent in GOP politics is out of the ordinary. Republicans have a history of nominating Senate candidates with no mainstream appeal.

Over the last decade alone, they’ve lost winnable races with the following unhinged nominees: Christine O’Donnell, Sharron Angle, Todd Akin, Doug Mastriano, Blake Masters, Dr. Oz, Herschel Walker and Moore.

White, already an all-time NBA flop, may soon join another inglorious group.

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