Teens Say Former Trump Aide John McEntee and Higher-Up 2025 Project Made Them Uncomfortable in Interviews
When Grace Carter heard about the Right Stuff Instagram account, the person controlling the account introduced himself as John. He also provided a phone number with a Southern California area code—another WIRED reporter has used in the past to contact McEntee.
There was no obvious reason why he would reach out to her in particular. At the time of her contact, Carter had about 17,000 followers on TikTok, she says, and only 1,500 on Instagram. He says: “Actually, I don’t know how he found me.” “Based on some of the accounts I follow and the things I post, it’s very leftist. So I was surprised when he found me.”
Carter says he never used McEntee’s phone number, although he did accept his offer of a free hoodie. While messages viewed by WIRED show that Carter has been slow to respond to McEntee, he has repeatedly promised to fly him and his girlfriend to Los Angeles. “My administration,” he wrote.
“I remember telling my boyfriend about it and I was joking that he was going to be another girl,” said Carter, who says he continued to talk to McEntee “like a prank.” “I was like, I could use a free trip, that’s why I kept the conversation going.”
In the messages seen by WIRED, McEntee tells Carter, “I think you’re a free person,” but tells her, “As long as you’re going to be happy, I don’t care.” The conversation, he says, ended after Carter refused to visit McEntee during his winter break.
He says: “I was uncomfortable when I was with him in person.
After the presidential debate on September 10, McEntee posted a video saying, “Can anyone track down the women Kamala Harris said are bleeding in parking lots because Roe v. Did he fall over? Don’t hold your breath.” The comment section of that video was quickly flooded with women across the country sharing their experiences.
It was this post that Carter said made her feel it was important to share her experience. He says: “That video he made talking about abortion made me very angry. “And I was just like, it has to be called.” Carter posted a video on TikTok sharing her messages with McEntee, and says she has received messages from several other young women who say the same thing happened.
One of those women, who spoke to WIRED on condition of anonymity because she’s concerned about her safety, says she connected with McEntee on the dating app Right Stuff before he moved in and texted her. The number given is the same as the one given by Carter and the one previously used by a reporter NOT ATTENTION; messages reviewed by WIRED also included selfies that clearly appear to be McEntee’s. Like Carter, he was 18 at the time.
“I called myself a consistent person,” said the lady. Unlike Carter, he knew who McEntee was, and initially thought his profile on the app was a user profile, as opposed to his real account. (Last year, a series of TikTok videos showed McEntee going on first dates with women on the app in various cities.) “I had seen him on TikTok. I would see him on the news. My family doesn’t play, so I had seen him before.”
