Trump appointee Carl Higbie resigns

The following article by Brett Samuels was posted on the Hill website January 18, 2018:

A Trump administration appointee resigned Thursday after CNN reported on his past use of racist, sexist, anti-Muslim language on the radio.

Carl Higbie resigned as chief of external affairs for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), a spokeswoman for the department told CNN.

Higbie declined a request for comment from The Hill.

CNCS was created in 1993 and oversees initiatives such as AmeriCorps and the Social Innovation Fund.

Higbie’s resignation follows a CNN review of his past comments on radio appearances in which he makes disparaging remarks about multiple minority groups.CNN found audio of a June 2013 radio appearance, when Higbie said, “I just don’t like Muslim people.”

“Well people are like, ‘well, you can’t hate somebody just for being Muslim.’ It’s like, yeah, I can,” Higbie said.

In a December 2013 appearance, Higbie suggested black women think “breeding is a form of government employment,” CNN uncovered.

Higbie, a former Navy SEAL, also made critical remarks of soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder, saying the illness is “a trait of a weak mind.”

Higbie joined the administration in August. He was a frequent surrogate for the Trump campaign on cable news during the 2016 campaign cycle.

He previously stirred controversy when, during one television appearance, he defended Trump’s rumored proposal to create a registry of Muslim immigrants.

Higbie suggested Japanese internment camps established during World War II would provide legal precedent for the registry, drawing backlash.

View the post here.