Darren Beattie — a top State Department official who was fired as a speechwriter during President Donald Trump’s first term after CNN revealed that he spoke at a conference attended by White nationalists — will now serve as the acting president of the US Institute of Peace, according to a senior State Department official.
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Beattie currently serves as the acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, a role where he is “passionate about affirmatively advancing free speech as a diplomacy tool, and marshalling America’s exceptional cultural achievements in the arts, music, and academia in furtherance of the safety, strength, and prosperity of the American people,” according to the State Department website.
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The institute, which was founded during the Reagan administration, “promotes research, policy analysis, education, and training on international peace and conflict resolution in an effort to prevent and resolve violent conflicts, and to promote post-conflict stability,” according to a description on usa.gov.
CNN’s KFile reported in 2018 that Beattie, a former Duke University visiting instructor, spoke in 2016 to the H.L. Mencken Club – a gathering that has included White nationalist figures such as Richard Spencer and Peter Brimelow. Beattie, who was then working as a speechwriter in the Trump White House, defended his speech, claiming it was academic in nature and didn’t contain anything “objectionable.” The Washington Post later reported he was fired after CNN’s article.
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CNN’s KFile has also reported that Beattie also has made a series of racially charged comments, writing in one tweet last year, “Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work. Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men.”
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George Foote, former counsel for USIP, who is representing employees fired by the government in a lawsuit, condemned the appointment of Beattie.
“The announced appointment of Darren Beattie as the President of the U.S. Institute of Peace flies in the face of the values at the core of USIP’s work and America’s commitment to working respectfully with international partners,” Foote said in a statement to CNN on Saturday.
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