Anti-Defamation League criticizes White House appointee ‘who has consorted with racists’

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) decried the Trump administration’s decision to appoint Darren Beattie to a commission tasked with preserving Holocaust-related sites after it originally fired him in 2018 for appearing at a conference with white nationalists.

Beattie was appointed to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, which identifies and preserves cemeteries and historic European buildings, including sites where Jews were killed during the Holocaust. The three-year appointment will extend into the new administration.

In 2018, Beattie, then a speechwriter for President Trump, was fired after it was discovered he had appeared at an event with Peter Brimelow, the creator of VDare, an anti-immigrant site the Southern Poverty Law Center has called a “hate website.”

Speaking to The New York Times, ADL chief executive Jonathan Greenblatt said, “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.”

Beattie responded to the group’s denunciation, saying, “The ADL pretends to be an organization that protects Jews, but it really exists to protect Democrats. As a Jewish Trump supporter, I consider it an honor to be attacked by the far-left ADL and its disgraced leader, Jonathan Greenblatt.”

As the Times notes, the Trump administration dismissed Beattie after years of criticisms that it had engendered anti-immigrant sentiment and done little to distance itself from white nationalists.

After the first presidential debate, Trump received widespread criticism for not outright condemning white nationalists.

The president was asked by moderator Chris Wallace if he would condemn white nationalists. Trump responded by shifting blame to the “left wing,” and when pressed by Wallace for a response, he replied, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”