An activist and self-described 2028 presidential candidate is offering free homes for his allies to move to a GOP-leaning Texas county and change its electoral makeup to support — as he puts it — “melanated people” like himself.
Malcolm Tanner has declared his plans to radically change the government of Loving County by the 2026 midterm elections in social media posts first reported by The Houston Chronicle. Tanner promises to root out “corruption” in the oil-rich, majority-white county on behalf of his group, Melanated People of Power.
In addition to 258,000 Facebook followers, Tanner boasts a following of 3,100 people in a “2028 Presidential Run” group chat on the app Clubhouse. At least a dozen people associated with Tanner have registered to vote in the county, Sheriff David Landersman, who is also the local voter registrar, told The Houston Chronicle. A cafe owner reportedly said she had counted at least 30 new arrivals as of August — almost half of the 64 people who made up Loving’s entire population in the 2020 U.S. Census.
“Not too often do you see a brother that looks like me come into the county and take the entire county over,” Tanner said in a July TikTok post. “Well, I have taken the entire county over, out here in Loving County, Texas. When these elections hit in 2026, we’re going to wipe the board. Everybody that I selected will be elected.” Tanner also told his followers in a July Facebook post that his daughter will become a county judge.
An unidentified person claiming to be legal counsel for Tanner rejected the idea of a “so-called ‘takeover plan’” in Loving County in an email after the Daily Caller News Foundation first reached out to him. Tanner later told the DCNF over the phone that he started building homes in the area in January.
Factors such as low crime make the county appealing to newcomers who want to escape big city life, he said.
“People want to live the American story that’s been told time and time again, and it’s sitting in Loving County, Texas,” Tanner told the DCNF.
“No one wants to get a phone call and say that my kid’s school just got shot up,” he said. “They don’t want that … they want to have peace. Peace.”
In a December post, Tanner described himself as “an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, educator, and federal politician” from South Bend, Indiana, who earned a doctorate of divinity from an unnamed college. He also called himself the founder of Melanated People of Power University. Tanner claimed to be a single father of 11 children, “balancing his responsibilities as a father with his ambitious career.”
Tanner told his followers in a July Facebook post to join him in the Clubhouse presidential run group if they want free homes. “If you’re ready, say yes in the chat,” he said. He owns at least two five-acre properties in Loving County, according to appraisal records that list a mailing address for him in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
The activist’s efforts have not come without challenges, as he has found one home torn down twice against his will, he told the DCNF. He said he did not know who ordered its removal.
“We plan to build as many as we can,” Tanner said, adding that he and his partners are strategizing on how to move forward. For now, some of his homes in the county are recreational vehicles, he said.
The offices of Loving County Judge Skeet Jones and Sheriff Landersman did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment. Loving County’s elections office also did not respond to an inquiry.
Tanner sued the sheriff’s department in federal court in August, alleging that a deputy came to one of Tanner’s properties multiple times without legal authorization, including an incident in which he allegedly brought a reporter looking to interview residents. He also claimed multiple properties of his were unlawfully “demolished or removed” without providing specific dates and locations.
“These acts constitute an intentional interference with my property rights and were apparently motivated by animus toward my publicly stated political intentions to expand residential occupancy in Loving County and affect lawful participation in democratic governance,” Tanner wrote — demanding $800 million in damages.
In a Sept. 19 motion to dismiss the case, the county argued that the lawsuit does not actually describe anything illegal, noting that it even mentions defendants leaving Tanner’s property when asked to.
“Terrified” tenants have resorted to contacting the FBI over the county’s supposed harassment, Tanner told the DCNF. “The police is potentially the bad guys,” he said. “You don’t know who you’re supposed to talk to.”
The FBI’s El Paso field office near Loving County declined to comment to the DCNF.
As part of his broader political ambitions, Tanner has vowed to sign an executive order as president to give black people $5,000 per month from conception until death “for the damages caused by Democrats and Republicans,” as shown in a Facebook video of him from the past few weeks addressing a crowd at a Q&A event.
“I am not a domestic terrorist, I’m not a Democrat, and I’m not a Republican,” Tanner told the audience in response to a question about what he would do for black people. He also launched a third-party candidacy for president in 2023, Federal Election Commission records show.
Loving County voted for President Donald Trump by 88% in 2024, though it was one of the only two counties in Texas that swung toward the Democratic presidential ticket since the 2020 election. Judges have overturned three elections for the county’s 2022 midterms over fraudulent residency claims, and a lawsuit is pending against the 2024 Republican primary election results for sheriff and constable positions, Courthouse News Service and NewsWest9 reported.
Tanner told the DCNF he did not know how many had moved into the county as a result of his housing offers. He maintains that all he wants is to provide them with a better life.
“These people are coming here to not be bothered,” Tanner said.
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