Donald Trump's white nationalist White House: Still in full effect [View all]

[DonViejo]

A Trump speechwriter quits after attending a conference known for promoting racism. It’s not like he was all alone

CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
AUGUST 22, 2018 11:00AM (UTC)

President Donald Trump loves to call nonwhite immigrants and refugees "vermin" or "invaders" and to suggest they are the "worst people." Yet he has no such strong words for the white nationalists and other racists prevalent throughout his administration.

As CNN reported on Sunday, a policy aide and speechwriter named Darren Beattie "has left the White House" after it was revealed he had spoken at the 2016 H.L. Mencken Club conference. Mencken represents an unfortunate chapter in American journalism: He was a prominent satirist, columnist and critic of the early 20th century whose book, "The American Language," marked the first serious attempt to study English as spoken in the United States. Mencken's posthumously published diaries, however, made clear that he was an ardent racist and anti-Semite, which has made him something of a hero to the far right.

The Mencken Club's annual conference, launched in 2008, has attracted a range of "well-known white nationalists," the CNN report continues, including the briefly famous Richard Spencer. "The schedule for the 2016 conference listed panels and speeches by white nationalist Peter Brimelow and two writers, John Derbyshire and Robert Weissberg, who were both fired in 2012 from the conservative magazine National Review for espousing racist views."

After CNN inquired about Beattie's involvement with the 2016 Mencken Club conference, the White House apparently asked the network "to hold off on the story for several days last week." It's not clear why CNN complied with that request. Beattie's email address at the White House was still working on Friday evening, the network reported, but "was no longer active by Saturday."

"Mr. Beattie no longer works at the White House," White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told CNN on Friday. "We don't comment on personnel matters."

As for the semi-disgraced Darren Beattie, he told CNN he had indeed spoken at the 2016 Mencken gathering and had nothing to be ashamed of.

more
https://www.salon.com/2018/08/22/donald-trumps-white-nationalist-white-house-still-in-full-effect/