White House speechwriter fired for attending white supremacist conference appointed to committee protecting Holocaust sites

ADL, Jewish groups call for White House to rescind Mr Beattie’s appointment

Darren Beattie, who was fired from the White House in 2018 for attending a white supremacist conference, has been appointed to a committee tasked with protecting Holocaust-related sites across Europe (Fox News)

A former speechwriter who was fired from the White House in 2018 for attending a conference with white supremacists has been placed on a committee meant to preserve Holocaust-related sites across Europe.

Darren Beattie was appointed to the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, according to a White House press release.

In addition to attending the white supremacist conference, Mr Beattie has claimed that George Soros was behind attempts to have Donald Trump removed from office. Mr Soros, who is Jewish, frequently appears as a main antagonist in right-wing conspiracy theories, often which include anti-semitic ideas.

He has also called systemic racism the “biggest race hoax of all time.”

After being fired from the White House, Mr Beattie was hired by Trump ally Rep Matt Gaetz to work on his team.

Logan Boroff, communications director for progressive Jewish lobbying group J Street, said the appointment was "appalling."

“It’s appalling that someone who was considered too close to xenophobic white nationalists to continue working in the Trump White House would now be appointed to a US government body focused largely on the preservation of sites dedicated to the memory of Holocaust victims,” he told Yahoo News.

Mr Boroff said it should be "obvious" that anyone who "traffics in hatred of immigrants and refugees are the last people on Earth who should be entrusted with honoring the victims of Nazis."

On Wednesday, the Anti-Defamation League called on the White House to rescind Mr Beatties appointment.

"It is absolutely outrageous that someone who has consorted with racists would even be considered for a position on a commission devoted to preserving Holocaust memorials in Europe. We urge the administration to rescind his appointment immediately," Jonathan A Greenblatt, the CEO of the ADL, said in a statement.

Mr Beattie spoke at a the 2016 HL Mencken Club Conference.

Mencken was a 20th century journalist and satirist whose racist views were published after his death.

The conference is regularly attended by well-known white supremacists like Richard Spencer and contributors to the white supremacist repository of writing called VDare.

Mr Beattie defended his participation and insisted his speech was not objectionable.

"In 2016 I attended the Mencken conference in question and delivered a stand-alone, academic talk titled 'The Intelligentsia and the Right.' I said nothing objectionable and stand by my remarks completely," he told CNN'. "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. I have no further comment."