Trump's former ICE director showed up at white nationalist conference — but claims it was a mix-up: report

On Thursday, the Huffington Post reported that the one-time director of former President Donald Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement showed up to the Orlando, Florida hotel where the America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC) — a gathering headed up by white nationalist organizer and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes -- was taking place.

However, he claims the whole thing was a misunderstanding.

"HuffPost has learned that Thomas Homan, the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under former President Donald Trump, showed up to AFPAC," reported Christopher Mathias. "He claimed to HuffPost that the whole thing was just a mix-up, and that he left the hotel quickly, before the conference began."

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"Before introducing the first mystery speaker, Fuentes issued an apology. His first choice, he explained, had a family emergency. Thomas Homan, who oversaw the Trump administration’s brutal anti-immigration policies as head of ICE, had arrived at AFPAC, Fuentes claimed, but had to rush away. He sadly wouldn’t be speaking," said the report. "Homan confirmed to HuffPost in a phone call this week that he had indeed arrived to speak at AFPAC. His assistant had arranged the appearance, he said, and Homan said they may have confused Fuentes’ group for another one. 'So many names of conservative groups sound the same,' Homan said."

Homan drew controversy in 2018 when he refused to acknowledge the conditions at Trump's border camps were inhumane.

Fuentes' gathering, which was punctuated by support for Vladimir Putin during his invasion of Ukraine, attracted several Republicans in elected office, most notably pro-QAnon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). This drew condemnation from other Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker, who is Black, pulled out of an upcoming campaign event with her.