White supremacist and potential Donald Trump California delegate William Johnson called the GOP's presumptive nominee "the real deal" Wednesday in an interview on CNN's The Lead.
Johnson is head of the American Freedom Party and a self-described white separatist. According to the Los Angeles Times, he is among the delegates pledged to Trump as published by California's Secretary of State office.
After reporting uncovered his selection, the Trump campaign attributed him making the list to a "database error." However, the statutory deadline to change the delegate list was on May 8.
CNN's Jake Tapper asked Johnson what he liked about Trump.
"Mr. Trump is the real deal," Johnson said. "He will not govern by public opinion poll. He says what's on his mind. This is kind of like what Ron Paul did. This is what Bernie Sanders is doing, and that's a refreshing change from the politicians we've had for many decades. That is probably the best thing about him and what endears him to most people in general."
Tapper asked Johnson if he felt Trump shared his views about the "decline of the United States because of other races coming to the United States."
"I've not said that America has declined for that reason," Johnson said.
"You suggested it," Tapper said.
"I'm saying that we are being dispossessed, but I have not attributed it to the other races, and you're saying things that I have not said, but I do believe that when you replace one people with another, that is not a good thing, whether it takes place in Mongolia or in Sweden," Johnson said. "I think that Donald Trump has to be a president for all peoples. That's what all presidents must do. It is up to me, as an advocate for the white group, to push our agenda more than any other agenda. That's my responsibility. His responsibility is to lead the entire country."
Johnson told Mother Jones that his selection hopefully showed his views could be "mainstream."
"I just hope to show how I can be mainstream and have these views," Johnson told Mother Jones. "I can be a white nationalist and be a strong supporter of Donald Trump and be a good example to everybody."
Trump previously failed to immediately disavow white supremacist support from David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan when given multiple opportunities to do so, also by Tapper on CNN.