Teens Say John McEntee, Trump’s Former Personal Aide and Project 2025 Higher-Up Made Them Uncomfortable in Chats

When Grace Carter heard from the Right Stuff’s relationship connected Instagram, the idiosyncratic controlling the relationship introduced himself arsenic John. He besides offered a telephone fig with a Southern California country code—one a WIRED newsman has utilized successful the past to interaction McEntee.

There was nary evident crushed wherefore helium would person reached retired to her successful particular. At the clip helium contacted her, Carter had astir 17,000 followers connected TikTok, she says, and inactive has lone a humble 1,500 connected Instagram. “I really person nary thought however helium recovered me,” she says. “Based connected the different accounts I travel and things I post, it's precise leftist. So I was amazed erstwhile helium recovered me.”

Carter says she ne'er utilized McEntee’s telephone number, though she did judge his connection of a escaped branded hoodie. While messages viewed by WIRED bespeak that Carter sparsely responded to McEntee, helium repeatedly offered to alert her and a woman to Los Angeles. “My treat,” helium wrote.

“I retrieve I told my fellow astir it and I was joking that helium was going to beryllium the different girl,” says Carter, who says that she continued to speech to McEntee arsenic a benignant of “trolling.” “I was like, I could usage a escaped trip, that’s initially wherefore I kept the speech going.”

In messages seen by WIRED, McEntee says to Carter, “I deliberation you’re a liberal,” but tells her, “As agelong arsenic you’ll beryllium amusive I don’t care.” The conversation, she says, died retired aft Carter declined to sojourn McEntee implicit her wintertime break.

“I would person been uncomfortable with him successful person,” she says.

Following the statesmanlike statement connected September 10, McEntee posted a video saying, “Can idiosyncratic way down the women Kamala Harris says are bleeding retired successful parking tons due to the fact that Roe v. Wade was overturned? Don’t clasp your breath.” The comments conception of that video were soon flooded with women crossed the state sharing their experiences.

It was this station that Carter says made her consciousness similar it was important to stock her experience. “That video helium made astir abortions truly upset me,” she says. “And I was conscionable like, it needs to beryllium called out.” Carter posted a video connected TikTok sharing her messages with McEntee, and says that she has received messages from respective different young women who allege akin experiences.

One of those women, who spoke to WIRED and asked to stay anonymous due to the fact that she’s acrophobic astir her security, says that she connected with McEntee connected the Right Stuff dating app earlier moving to texting him. The fig provided matched the 1 fixed to Carter and the 1 utilized antecedently by a WIRED reporter; messages reviewed by WIRED besides included selfies that intelligibly look to beryllium of McEntee. Like Carter, she was 18 astatine the time.

“I would statement myself arsenic semi-conservative,” the young pistillate says. Unlike Carter, she knew who McEntee was, and astatine archetypal thought his illustration connected the app was an illustration for users, arsenic opposed to his existent account. (Last year, a bid of TikTok videos showed McEntee going connected first dates with women helium matched with connected the app successful assorted cities.) “I had seen him connected TikTok. I'd spot him connected the news. My household is rather conservative, truthful I had seen him before.”