In a resurfaced 2003 clip, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller claimed that torture is a "celebration of human life" and a sign of "respect towards other cultures," while discussing Saddam Hussein and Iraqi civilians.
"To the issue of the Iraqi civilians, I think that as many of them should survive as possible because the goal of any military conflict is to kill as few people as possible," Miller said in the clip, circulating on X. "But as for Saddam Hussein and his henchmen, I think the ideal solution would be to cut off their fingers," he continued to growing laughter.
In the video, a 17-year-old Stephen Miller was seen sitting on a school bus seat. That same year, the now 39-year-old Trump official graduated from Santa Monica High School, and, during his time there, Miller was accused of making inflammatory remarks that targeted minority students, according to reporting by Univision.
"I don't think its necessary to kill them entirely, we're not a barbaric people, we respect life," Miller continued in the clip. "Therefore, torture is the way to go because tortured people can live. Torture is the celebration of life and human dignity. We need to remember that as we enter these very dark and dangerous times in the next century," Miller added in the prescient clip.
Stephen Miller: “Torture is a celebration of human life and dignity.”
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) July 16, 2025
Leaked video shows the current White House Chief of Staff at 17, describing the torture of Iraqis in gruesome detail as the group erupts in laughter. pic.twitter.com/2dqfJUQwHe
"I only hope that many of my peers and people who will be leading this country will appreciate the value and respect that torture shows towards other cultures," Miller said, prompting continued laughter.
Throughout his school years, Miller often displayed a lack of cultural sensitivity, according to former classmates. Several have come forward with accounts of discriminatory remarks he allegedly made. One recalled him telling members of a Mexican-American student club, "This is the United States. Speak English." He also reportedly told another Latino student to "go back to your country" and to "speak English."
Miller later attended Duke University, where he organized "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" and described the Chicano Student Movement of Aztlán (MEChA) as a "radical Hispanic nationalist group that believes in racial superiority."
"America without her culture is like a body without a soul," Miller wrote in a college newspaper column at the time, according to The New Yorker. "Yet many of today's youth see America as nothing but a meeting point for the cultures of other nations."
Many social media users expressed shock at Miller's disturbing remarks, with some noting that torture is a war crime, one the U.S. repeatedly committed during the Iraq War.
"Nah man, this guy was born evil," one social media user declared.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 nah man, this guy was born evil https://t.co/Fo8aVUkNXL
— ☭🔻☭ (@marxstrimist) July 16, 2025
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