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The members of Donald Trump’s second administration continue to go from bad to worse (and then somehow worse-er), with the most recent name sounding mighty familiar for all the wrong reasons.
For his second cabinet, the president had already assembled a group which also doubles as my nightmare blunt rotation — from Matt Gaetz to Kristi Noem and RFK Jr. — but the list just added another, equally sinister member; Darren Beattie. The conservative journalist was recently enlisted by Trump to serve as the State Department’s acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. It’s a mouthful, but it’s political-speak for a high-ranking role within the critical department responsible for the nation’s foreign policy and security.
Given Trump’s history with his appointees, the title of the State Department role alone might’ve been enough to induce a shudder, but a look back on Beattie’s history makes it all the more terrifying. If you recall, Beattie previously served as a speechwriter (which is no use for Trump, anyway) in the Trump team during his first presidency, but was fired in 2018. Why, you may ask? Oh, only because it was discovered that Beattie had spoken at a conference linked to white nationalists.
At this point, I’m surprised there’s even enough satan spawn left for Trump to choose from for his administration, as we’ve moved from sexual assaulters to dog killers and whale decapitators. Now, he’s added white nationalists to the list, a term that feels befitting for Beattie given his attendance at that Mencken conference back in 2016. Beattie was fired from the Trump camp when news broke of his attendance at the event, but his behavior since has been equally alarming, and should equally disqualify him from being rehired.
In October, for instance, Beattie wrote in a truly abhorrent post on X that “competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work,” echoing an eerily similar sentiment shared by Trump in the wake of the Potomac mid-air collision last week. “Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men,” Beattie added in the resurfaced post, perhaps forgetting that Trump’s first cabinet was composed of the most white males since Ronald Reagan’s.
Even beyond all the white nationalism, Beattie’s appointment in the State Department role raises eyebrows given his previous comments on the Jan. 6 insurrection. On Donald Trump Jr.’s Triggered With Don Jr. podcast (ugh) last month, Beattie accused Biden of misleading the public and organizing a cover-up of the Capitol riot, and during the actual insurrection he was caught sharing X posts attacking prominent Black political figures and organizations. “BLM must take a knee to MAGA,” he wrote in one post, “they must learn their place.”
Oh, Beattie’s news website, Revolver News, also features recent stories alleging that the Potomac plane crash was intentionally manufactured, so there’s that. Trump’s ability to assemble members of his government who somehow outdo the horribleness of their predecessors would be impressive were it not for… you know, the power they can now wield on citizens.
Alongside Beattie, Gatez, Noem, and RFK Jr., other eyebrow-raising picks for the Trump camp have included Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, former WWE wrestler Linda McMahon, and television host Doctor Oz. There’s another certain person with an affinity for terrifyingly familiar hand gestures who I could mention, but I just had lunch and can’t risk throwing up at the sound of his name.