Getty Protesters gather outside the U.S. Capitol Building.
James McCoy Taylor was a fifth place finisher on season 12 of The Bachelorette, but in the years since his time on the show, Taylor has mostly garnered attention for his staunchly conservative political beliefs.
On January 5, Taylor shared that he was in Washington, D.C. for the “March for Trump” and urged his followers to join him and “fight for a man who’s been fighting for you.” On January 6, that march devolved into a riot with a mob storming the United States Capitol, resulting in the death of five people.
Taylor was absent from social media after his January 5 post, but returned on January 11 to thank “conservative producers” from “The Bachelor family” for supporting him.
An ABC source told Heavy that Taylor’s tweet “is unequivocally false.”
Big thanks to #TheBachelor family for supporting me during this time… from top to bottom.
Conservative producers are the best!!
Thank you @ABCNetwork @ABC & @BachelorABC for having my back while I legally supported our President.
Taylor, 33, hasn’t revealed whether or not he was one of the Donald Trump supporters who invaded the U.S. Capitol building.
Bachelor Alums Have Called Out Taylor on Social Media
Despite lasting seven weeks on The Bachelorette and finishing fifth, Taylor was cut from the show when ABC re-aired a shortened version of JoJo Fletcher’s season as part of The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons – Ever! He claimed it was because show creator Mike Fleiss and other executives hate him because of his support of Trump.
But Taylor has annoyed plenty of other Bachelor Nation members too in the years since his time on the show in 2016.
When Taylor complained about the state of Illinois teaching LGBTQ history in schools, he was roasted by Wells Adams and Chad Johnson, two of his fellow season 12 contestants. When Taylor ripped Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the national anthem in protest of racial inequality, Bachelor alum and Army veteran Jubilee Sharpe said “veterans NEVER asked” for Taylor to be their spokesperson, and that she was embarrassed to know him.
Most recently, Tyler Cameron of season 15 of The Bachelorette defended Hannah Brown when Taylor criticized her for the way she handled Luke Parker’s fantasy suite objections. Cameron also said Taylor kept tagging him in Instagram posts, despite the fact that the two had never met before.
Fans Say Taylor Is Thirsty for Attention
When Taylor’s tweet was posted on r/TheBachelor on Reddit, most users brushed off his claim that he had ABC support as his usual bluster.
“James just wants attention,” one user wrote. “He once claimed to know Kobe Bryant and also thinks he’s friends with Donald Trump Jr.
“There’s no way anyone affiliated with ABC would do anything to protect him. He’s not worth the backlash that would cause. He’s either completely lying or one of the producers reached out to ask if he was okay and he’s turning that into ‘they had my back’ story.”
“I think he’s using the fact that people are tweeting about the show as it airs live with those hashtags to draw attention to his stupid ass,” another user wrote. “Disgusting.”
The reaction on Twitter to his claim was met with a similar sentiment. Multiple tweets accused him of hunting for attention:
@pppiierrrcce @james_mccoy_t @ABCNetwork @ABC @BachelorABC I think he’s lying in a desperate attempt to get attention.
@james_mccoy_t @ABCNetwork @ABC @BachelorABC “WAHHHH I NEED ATTENTION. EVERYONE LOOK AT ME DURING TONIGHTS EPISODE!!!”
Taylor posted his tweet about ABC’s support to his Instagram story, as well.
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