Darren Beattie
Darren Beattie | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Beattie in 2020 | |
| Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs | |
Acting | |
| Assumed office February 3, 2025 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Lee Satterfield (Acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | Duke University (PhD) |
Darren Jeffrey Beattie is an American conservative author and diplomat serving since 2025 as the acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
Beattie was a guest lecturer at Duke University and served as a speechwriter in the White House during the first Trump administration. He is the founder of the news website Revolver News.
Biography
[edit]Beattie is Jewish.[1] He holds a PhD in political theory from Duke University.[2] He was also a visiting political science professor at Duke University.[3]
In 2016, Beattie was a part of a group of academics who signed a petition in support of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. In November 2016, he predicted that Trump would win the 2016 presidential election.[2]
During Trump's first term, Beattie worked as a policy aide and speechwriter in the White House. CNN reported in 2018 that Beattie had attended a 2016 meeting of the HL Mencken Club conference that was also attended by white nationalists such as Peter Brimelow, John Derbyshire, and Robert Weissberg. Beattie responded that he only gave an academic speech at the conference and made no offensive remarks.[4] In August 2018, the White House said Beattie no longer worked there.[5]
In April 2019, U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz hired Beattie as his special advisor for speechwriting.[3]
In November 2020, Trump appointed Beattie as a member of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad.[6][7] Numerous organizations, including those representing the Jewish community, objected to the appointment.[8][9] In January 2022, the Biden administration forced Beattie to resign from the position.[10]
Beattie founded Revolver News, which raised funds in part by selling pro-Trump apparel and merchandise.[1] Beattie once wrote there that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents were behind the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[10]
Beattie joined the United States Department of State under the second Trump administration in January 2025. In February 2025, it was reported that Beattie would serve as the acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.[1]
Views
[edit]Beattie is active on Twitter, where his comments have attracted controversy. In October 2024, he tweeted, "Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work. Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men."[11]
Beattie initially praised the January 6 United States Capitol attack on Twitter, but he later deleted the tweets.[12] As early as October 2021, he promoted the conspiracy theory that Ray Epps was a federal agent provocateur,[13] which he still endorsed as of August 2024.[14] In September 2024, Beattie suggested the U.S. Intelligence Community was more likely than Iran to be behind the assassination attempts on Trump.[12]
Foreign affairs
[edit]Beattie has strongly criticized U.S. foreign policy, comparing the post-Soviet Color revolutions to "the coordinated efforts of government bureaucrats, NGOs, and the media to oust President Trump" in a 2020 essay.[15]
In 2020, he tweeted "NATO is a greater threat to American liberty than the Chinese Communist Party. Sounds crazy I know, but I'd be willing to debate anyone serious on this topic publicly."[16] In 2021, he wrote that "a big part of American ruling class' [sic] hatred of Russia is that Russia is a major power that rejects the woke ideology at the core of American regime" and "Now that Xi's China is rejecting America's woke poison in key respects, interesting to see how this plays into cold war 2.0."[16]
Of China's policies toward Uyghurs, Beattie wrote: "The Chinese aren't genocidal. They just object to Uyghur supremacy and uyghurness. If Uyghurs simply reject uyghur supremacy, they'll have no problem functioning in Chinese society." In 2021, he wrote, "Uighurs don't like anti-Uighur racism, it must be because they are Uighur nationalists who think all of China is for Uighurs ONLY."[17] In May 2024, he wrote, "Taiwan will inevitably belong to China, it's only a matter of time. It's not worth expending any capital to prevent", adding that a "visionary statesman will recognize this and make a deal- in exchange for acknowledgment of this basic reality, get some serious concessions on Africa and Antartica [sic]".[16] In July 2024, Beattie wrote it "might mean fewer drag queen parades in Taiwan, but otherwise not the end of the world" if China took over Taiwan.[12]
In August 2024, he wrote the "ruling regime" of the United Kingdom, referring to the Labour Party that took power in the 2024 general election, "is far less legitimate than Saddam was in Iraq prior to the US invasion—and, for that matter, far less legitimate than Maduro's regime in Venezuela".[12] He also wrote that month that "Britain treats its own native white people far worse than China treats its muslim Uighur population"[17] and that "America treats rural whites far worse than China treats Uighurs."[16]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Levine, Mike; Parks, MaryAlice (February 2, 2025). "Trump administration taps controversial conservative journalist for top job". ABC News. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
- ^ a b Stein, Sam; Brodey, Sam (April 19, 2019). "Matt Gaetz Hires Speechwriter Fired From White House Over White Nationalist Conference". The Daily Beast. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
- ^ a b Kelly, Caroline (April 19, 2019). "Rep. Matt Gaetz hires former White House speechwriter who attended 2016 conference with white nationalists". CNN. Archived from the original on January 8, 2023. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
- ^ Kaczynski, Andrew (August 19, 2018). "Speechwriter who attended conference with white nationalists in 2016 leaves White House". CNN. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
- ^ "Trump aide 'fired over ties to white nationalist event'". BBC News. August 20, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
- ^ McKay, Tom (November 18, 2020). "Trump Admin Taps Ex-Aide Fired for Ties to Far Right for Commission That Preserves Holocaust Memorials". Gizmodo. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
- ^ Mathias, Christopher (November 19, 2020). "Trump Has Appointed 2 White Nationalists To Government Roles Since Losing The Election". HuffPost. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
- ^ Haberman, Maggie (November 19, 2020). "Jewish Group Denounces White House Pick for Preservation Commission". The New York Times. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
- ^ Choi, Joseph (November 19, 2020). "Anti-Defamation League criticizes White House appointee 'who has consorted with racists'". The Hill. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
- ^ a b Alfaro, Mariana (January 14, 2022). "Biden White House forces resignation of former Trump aide who promoted baseless Jan. 6 theories". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
- ^ Kaczynski, Andrew; Hansler, Jennifer; Steck, Em (February 3, 2025). "Trump appoints speechwriter fired for attending conference with White nationalists to top State Department role | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
- ^ a b c d Kaczynski, Andrew; Hansler, Jennifer; Steck, Em (February 3, 2025). "Trump appoints speechwriter fired for attending conference with White nationalists to top State Department role". CNN. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
- ^ Bump, Philip (April 24, 2023). "Analysis | Ray Epps's very good point about culpability for Jan 6". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
- ^ Beattie, Darren [@DarrenJBeattie] (August 29, 2024). "The Ray Epps and Pipe Bomber story are supported by overwhelming evidence meticulously and cogently presented. Any reasonable person would have to conclude at the very least there are deep suspicions there. ..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Smith, Ben (February 2, 2025). "MAGA intellectual Darren Beattie will fill key State Department role". Semafor. Archived from the original on February 3, 2025. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
- ^ a b c d Schorr, Isaac (February 3, 2025). "Top Trump State Department Appointee Shilled for America's Enemies, Called NATO 'Greater Threat' Than Chinese Communist Party". Mediaite. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
- ^ a b Kawase, Kenji (February 4, 2025). "China's Uyghur travel restrictions detailed in report amid Trump unease". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved February 4, 2025.