A White House speechwriter who spoke at a 2016 conference “frequented” by white nationalists no longer holds that position, CNN reported Sunday.
“Mr. Beattie no longer works at the White House,” White House deputy press secretary told CNN Friday night.
Gidley added “We don’t comment on personnel matters,” which is false — the White House frequently comments on personnel matters.
CNN said it had reached out to the White House days ago with questions about Darren Beattie’s attendance at the 2016 H.L. Mencken Club Conference, at which well-known white nationalist Peter Brimelow spoke and other white nationalists, including Jared Taylor, were in attendance.
The White House asked the network to give it a few days to respond, CNN reported. Beattie’s White House email address, which worked through Friday, wasn’t active on Saturday, CNN said.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that Beattie was fired after CNN approached the White House about its reporting, and after he refused to resign, according to three unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
Two other speakers at the 2016 event, John Derbyshire and Robert Weissberg, “were both fired in 2012 from the conservative magazine National Review for espousing racist views,” CNN noted.
“In 2016 I attended the Mencken conference in question and delivered a stand-alone, academic talk titled ‘The Intelligentsia and the Right,’” Beattie told CNN Saturday. “I said nothing objectionable and stand by my remarks completely.”
He added that it was “the honor of my life to serve in the Trump Administration. I love President Trump, who is a fearless American hero, and continue to support him one hundred percent.”
