A candidate for Minnesota’s seat in the U.S. Senate has come under criticism for a resurfaced social media post from 2022 in which he said “the bad guys won” World War II.

“It dawned on me today… The bad guys won in WWII,” reads the old X post from Royce White, a former NBA player now running against incumbent Sen. Amy Klobuchar in Minnesota. “There were no ‘good guys’ in that war. The controlling interests had a jump ball. If you look closely, you see the link between liberalism and communism in the Allied forces.”

Backlash quickly ensued after the post was resurfaced by Heartland Signal. It comes as the Republican White lags behind in polls against the Democratic Sen. Klobuchar. One recent poll from Minnesota Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE shows Klobuchar with an 11-point lead over White.

White replied to the resurfaced tweet on X, decrying the “reconstruction of our global economy” after World War II. “It’s embarrassing to see how many of you liberals have become pro war and pro crony capitalism,” he said.

Nazi Germany and its collaborators killed more than 6 million Jewish people during WWII.

White’s campaign did not immediately reply to USA TODAY’s request for comment.

Who is Royce White?

A Minnesota native, White is making another attempt at a political career. In 2022, he failed to advance past the Republican primary for the Minnesota District 5 House of Representatives Seat.

This isn’t the first controversy White has been involved in, as reported by the St. Cloud Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. He has also come under fire for allegedly using campaign funds at a strip club, admitted to being transphobic and has told voters in the state that he is further right than former President Donald Trump.

White is a former professional basketball player who played a total of three games in the NBA for the Sacramento Kings.

White was also the 16th overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft being drafted by the Houston Rockets after attending Iowa State for college.

He later played in the Big 3 league after being selected first overall.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_. 

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Royce White, Senate candidate in Minn., criticized for old WWII post