Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) sounded the alarm on reports that President Donald Trump’s administration was on the verge of naming a former White House speechwriter to a top State Department role despite being previously fired over ties to white nationalists.
Murphy appeared rattled by what he called the “radical views” of Darren Beattie — who is expected to take on the role of acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs — but told CNN’s Jake Tapper that Beattie's reemergence in the new Trump administration isn’t surprising.
“My understanding is that he is up for this post,” Murphy said Monday during an appearance on CNN’s “The Lead,” adding that Beattie "sounds particularly dangerous.”
“The brazen chauvinism and racism – he also has been a very frequent apologist for the Chinese genocide of Uyghurs, he says the United States should have no interest in protecting Taiwan and we should in fact hand Taiwan to the Chinese – he has really radical views,” Murphy said.
ALSO READ: 'Driven to self-loathing': Inside the extremist website believed to 'groom' teen attackers
The Connecticut senator then seized the opportunity to unleash a forceful condemnation of Department of Government Efficiency Chair Elon Musk, who he wrapped up as cut from the same “racist” cloth as Beattie.
“I don't know, they don't seem super different than Elon Musk, who has amplified vicious antisemitic information on Twitter [now X], who gave the ‘Heil Hitler’ salute on Inauguration Day,” Murphy said about the views of Beattie and Musk, before revealing what he believed to be a key qualification for serving in the Trump 2.0 administration.
“It seems to be standard that the qualification to serve in the Trump administration is affection for racist and misogynist philosophy," he said. “So, this guy is dangerous, but there seems to be people like him being peppered throughout Trump's government.”
Watch the clip below or at this link.
