Trump Appointee Resigns Over Racist, Sexist And Anti-Gay Remarks

GREENWICH, CT — Carl Higbie, appointed by President Trump to direct the public image and messaging of the federal department that manages millions of Americans in volunteer services like AmeriCorps, has resigned after CNN exposed racist, sexist, anti-Muslim and anti-gay comments he made on the radio.

Higbie, a former Navy SEAL and Greenwich native, was chief of external affairs for the Corporation for National and Community Service, which manages millions of Americans in volunteer services. Formed in 1993, the organization connects volunteers with service opportunities, often in the neediest areas across the country.

Higbie made the remarks as host of the radio program "Sound of Freedom," on Internet talk radio, according to CNN, which included sound clips from the show in its report.

On various episodes of the show, Higbie rails against gay marriage; refers to United States Sen. Diane Feinstein as a "b--ch;" advocates shooting undocumented immigrants if they cross the U.S. border illegally; says African-American women believe "breeding is a form of government employment;" states that Muslim ideology "sucks" and disparages military veterans suffering from PTSD.

In February 2013, he said of shooting immigrants: "What's so wrong with wanting to put up a fence and saying, 'hey, everybody with a gun, if you want to go shoot people coming across our border illegally, you can do it fo' free. And you can do it on your own, and you'll be under the command of the, you know, National Guard unit or a Border Patrol, I think stick a fence six feet high with signs on it in both English and Spanish and it says 'if you cross this border, this is the American border, you cross it, we're going to shoot you.'"

Of gay people, he said in May 2013: "Rhode Island, land of more liberals, has just OK'ed, gay marriage. Congratuf'in'lations, you suck, Rhode Island. Why would you do that? Go ahead and twist the knife a little, little bit more. I mean, you are breaking the morals, the moral fiber of our country. You know, I don't like gay people. I just don't."

And about military personnel suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, in August 2014 he said: "I'd say 75% of people with PTSD don't actually have it, and they're either milking something for a little extra money in disability or they're just, they honestly are just lying,"

The president’s appointees have faced increased scrutiny for racist or anti-Muslim statements made in the past. The Department of Homeland Security’s Jamie Johnson, another Trump appointee, resigned in November for comments he made that linked blacks to “laziness” and “promiscuity, ” and Pete Hoekstra, the new U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, apologized earlier this month for baseless anti-Muslim theories he had spread numerous times in past.

Higbie was a surrogate for Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, appearing on cable news and serving as the spokesman for the Trump-aligned Great America PAC before being appointed in 2017.

In November 2016, he suggested Japanese internment camps were a "precedent" for a rumored registry of Muslim immigrants.

"Effective immediately, Carl Higbie has resigned as Chief of External Affairs at CNCS," Samantha Jo Warfield, a spokesperson for CNCS, said in a statement.

In a post on Twitter Friday, Higbie wrote that he was sorry he uttered the words. "Those words do not reflect who I am or what I stand for, I regret saying them."

Higbie is a pro-military author and had become a conservative media pundit in the years before his appointment to the Trump Administration in 2017. He is no stranger to vociferously expressing his opinion, and even sparred with singer Katy Perry last year. After the pop star called for unity following the Manchester, England terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert, Higbie said she could "go to hell" for such a sentiment in the face of ISIS threats.

According to the news blog OnlyInBridgeport.com, Higbie was scheduled to speak to the Bridgeport Republican Town Committee in May at the group's annual Lincoln Day dinner but has been dropped from that event.

Click here to read the full story on the CNN website.

Photo of Carl Higbie via his Twitter page