The recently appointed acting under secretary of state for public diplomacy has been busy deleting posts on social media where he questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio's sexuality and cast aspersions on his IQ.
According to a report from CNN, Darren Beattie was ousted from his job as a speechwriter during Donald Trump's first administration for attending a conference of white nationalists and for inflammatory posts on Twitter, since renamed X, and now he has another social media problem to fend off.
The CNN report notes that Beattie dabbled in racism and homophobia on social media, but "he does appear to have purged criticism of Rubio from his feed. Beattie deleted tweets suggesting a deep hostility toward Rubio — particularly after the then-senator voted to certify the 2020 election results and condemned the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol."
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In one notable 2021 post he referenced a far-right conspiracy theory about Rubio’s past, by speculating about Wainwright Park and "a curfew violation from Rubio’s teenage years that was later twisted into baseless speculation that Rubio is gay."
“Forget Wainwright park, forget the foam, forget the war promotion and the neocon sugar daddies, forget the low IQ, forget the 2016 primary, Rubio is TOUGH ON CHINA (and good for military industrial complex) So be a good DOG and vote for him!!!” Beattie wrote before later writing, "What happens in the Cabana stays in the Cabana #Rubio.”
In another tweet, he wrote of his future boss, "Does Marco Rubio have a future in politics?”
Asked to respond to his previous disparagement of the then-Republican senator from Florida, he replied, "Secretary Rubio is 100 percent America First and it’s a tremendous honor to work for him in advancing President Trump’s world historical agenda.”
CNN is also reporting that Rubio has refused to comment on the attacks.