The good news is that a White House aide with ties to white nationalists has left the White House. The bad news is that he was there in the first place.
Trump speechwriter Darren Beattie reportedly left the West Wing after CNN made inquiries about his having spoken at the conservative H.L. Mencken Club Conference in 2016, which he reportedly acknowledged in a statement to the cable news network over the weekend. In that statement, Beattie claimed he "said nothing objectionable" and that he stands by his actions.
"It was the honor of my life to serve in the Trump administration," Beattie told CNN. "I love President Trump, who is a fearless American hero, and continue to support him 100 percent. I have no further comment."
The White House confirmed Beattie's departure while declining to further discuss the matter with CNN. CNN also reported Beattie's government email was working late Friday evening, but had been shut down on Saturday.
The Trump administration has been criticized for its appeal among white nationalist groups, which was fueled by the president declaration there were "fine people on both sides" of a 2017 race riot in Charlottesville, Va., that left a woman dead. He has also given statements denouncing white supremacy groups.
Former National Review writers Josh Derbyshire and Robert Reissberg, both of whom were fired by the magazine in 2012 for their alt-right associations, were also listed as speakers at the 2016 conference where Beattie spoke.
Unite the Right leader and National Policy Institute President Richard Spencer counts himself as a supporter of the Mencken Club, which was named for 19th-century humorist H.L. Mencken. The former Baltimore Evening Sun columnist was revealed to be a racist when a collection of articles called "The Diary of H.L. Mencken" was published in 1989, 43 years after his death.
