A White House official has tried to backpedal on a series of social media posts in which he attacked police, criticized Israel and promoted the conspiracy of Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.
Tyler Cherry, who has been promoted as an associate communications director at the White House, said his past social media posts “do not reflect” his current views, pledging his support to the Joe Biden administration and its work on environmental policies. The rest of his entire X/Twitter feed has been completely wiped.
Cherry – who previously worked at the Department of Interior – hastily turned off replies when social media users highlighted his past writings, of which there are many he hoped we’d never see.
Cherry’s response was typical of all newly promoted public figures who have been a little bit too carefree in their public postings before entering a new role.
Furthermore, his vague cover-up prompted many to wonder as to which of his controversial views he had since rejected.
Cherry has expressed views which the Biden administration has come under heavy fire from. In 2018, he called for the abolition of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which contradicts Biden’s supposedly tough-on-immigration stance. He also accused Baltimore Police of being “motivated by explicit and implicit racial biases”, and posted his support for the “ending the occupation of Palestine” during the 2014 Gaza War.
Not only has Cherry come under fire for his own controversial views, but the decision to appoint him has borne further questions on the White House itself. Nevertheless, senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates defended the decision in a statement to Fox News, telling them: “We’re very proud to have Tyler on the team.”
