When Johnny McEntee worked for President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., he noticed how difficult it was for single conservatives to find like-minded people to date.
“It’s hard to date because you cannot be open about your politics because you’re in such a hostile environment,” said McEntee, now a resident of Newport Beach.
As a result, McEntee co-founded an application called “The Right Stuff,” a dating app for Republicans.
His co-founders, former Trump administration colleagues Daniel Huff and Isaac Stalzer, have gotten a $1.5 million investment from billionaire Peter Thiel, an early investor in
Palmer Luckey’s two companies, Oculus and Anduril.
“I pitched Peter this idea and he really liked it,” McEntee said.
“There’s a dating app for almost everything, like if you’re Jewish or a single parent or a dog lover or music lover or gamer. Until now, there wasn’t a functioning app for the thing that’s most important to people when it comes to dating.”
Viral QB
McEntee has deep roots in Orange County, having played football for Anaheim’s Servite High School. He is also the son of John McEntee, owner of Anaheim music agency TEI Entertainment, which was profiled in the Business Journal in September.
The younger McEntee was a starting quarterback for the University of Connecticut where he made a video that went viral with more than 7.4 million views, showing him successfully throwing trick football passes. He worked for the first couple years in the Trump White House.
“I loved working for him,” McEntee said of Trump. “I have only good things to say about him personally.”
After leaving the White House the first time, he co-founded another company that made a social media app, which he said wasn’t a huge success, but he learned a lot about the industry.
He returned to the White House a second time, rising to become director of the Presidential Personnel Office, which is responsible for vetting, hiring and dismissing about 4,000 political appointees.
“Working in politics is tough but rewarding. What you’re doing can really affect people’s lives,” McEntee said.
After Trump left the White House in 2021, a friend of McEntee’s suggested a dating app, saying, “All my girlfriends want to date a Republican. You should make a dating app for Republicans.”
He said political affiliation is passing religion as the “No. 1 deal breaker” for unsuccessful dating.
The app is free for 40,000 active members; about 1,500 pay an extra $10 a month for premium services. Thus far, it’s generated 27 million “likes” on TikTok where it has 612,000 followers. It has another 168,000 followers on Instagram.
The app’s received coverage from the New York Times, Tucker Carlson and Fox 11 news station in Los Angeles. A report from the NY Post last year noted complaints about a “lack of women” on the site, among other issues facing the startup.
McEntee went on a promotion where he went out with 50 women on the app to show that women have signed up for it.
The app also sponsors speed dating events where 15 men will meet 15 women at an event.
He expects the app to eventually include more than dating, including sections focusing on friends, books and business.
“There’s this cultural thing in America where they think they cannot be openly conservative or Republican because they think it’s not cool or they have to hide it.
“I want to change all that and have a cultural shift to show people it’s cool, it’s fun. There are millions of people just like you who want the same things you want.”
