Cnn
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At least four people from Donald Trump’s first mandate who were deemed too extreme or politically toxic to win the Senate confirmation – or even keep their jobs – are now back in the fold and in some cases with more power than before.
One attacked the right of women to vote. Another spoke at a conference with white nationalists. A third said that President Barack Obama was a “terrorist leader” and said Its former CIA director is expected to face a “dismissal team”, commit suicide or become a “b * tch prison”.
A fourth called Hillary Clinton “a terrorist from Amnesia” and accused the wife of the Texas Ted Cruz senator of plotting to combine the governments of the United States, Canada and Mexico.
All were in a way demoted or withdrawn from their work during Trump’s first mandate, but have now been renamed or renovated – part of a model in Trump’s second mandate to bring back figures once rejected to promote conspiracy theories or ignite racial and sexist tensions.
In 2025, they are no longer fringes – they are in charge.
Their performance is additional proof of the will of the Trump administration to turn the more moderate votes, to reshape federal policy Along the ideological lines And See loyalty as the most important qualification.
In Trump’s first mandate, many of these figures derailed precisely because they were considered too non -professional or conspirators – even by a Senate controlled by the Republicans. Now, in his second mandate, they are not only welcome, but are now raised in real influence positions with less surveillance, fewer checks and, in some cases, a greater range.
With a few exceptions, Trump obtained almost all of his candidates throughout this quarter – thanks to a republican party which has largely fallen online behind its most controversial names and nominated.
Among them, John Gibbs, a senior official of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
The powerful political work give Gibbs a first point of leadership at HUD supervising research and data that plays a central role in the development of the federal housing strategy. It does not require a confirmation of the Senate.
In Trump’s first term, Gibbs, then responsible for the HUD in a different role, was appointed In 2020 to direct the staff management office – the agency which oversees the hiring, payment and conduct of the major official of federal civil servants in the country.
The Senate controlled by the Republican was rehumed to its appointment but after Kfile de CNN reported that He informed basically that the president of the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016 had participated in a satanic ritual and that Gibbs defended a notorious racist Twitter prohibition for anti -Semitic and Nazi content.
Gibbs then run without success for the Congress in Michigan in 2022, winning the republican appointment with the approval of Trump. This year, Kfile de CNN reported that as a student at the University of Stanford, Gibbs had founded a so-called “reflection group” which argued that the United States had “suffered” from the suffrage of women and promoted websites which recommended for the repeal of the 19th amendment.
Gibbs said that the website was from satire to the anger of feminists on campus, but recordings on the Wayback machine of the Internet archive show that it also left anti -feminist comments on the web – undermining its explanation.
Gibbs told CNN in an email: “Just as President Trump modeled courage and resilience in front of vicious assaults, attempts to degrade my character with false attacks have not and will not succeed. The best is yet to come. ”
Gibbs then resurfaced as an administrator of the County of Ottawa, Michigan, where he was dismissed after a little over a year in the midst of allegations of coarse misconduct and deliberate embezzlement. He continued the county and Installed at the beginning of 2025 For $ 190,000 and a resignation agreement.
Darren Beattie, a former speech editor of Trump’s White House, was licensed in 2018 after being revealed by CNN He spoke at a conference alongside white nationalists. He then launched Revolver News, a far -right site known to publish false conspiracy theories of January 6, and he published racist and misogynist messages, including “competent white men must be in charge”.
Now Beattie is the acting under-secretary of public diplomacy in the State Department where he is responsible for helping to shape American messaging abroad linked to the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
After Beattie’s dismissal, Trump appointed him in 2020 to a commission supervising the commemorative monuments of the holocaust. The move caused the counterpoup of Jewish groupsAnd President Joe Biden had him withdraw from the Commission.
In the following years, Beattie Racist and misogynist messages published on social networks And attacked the black legislators and the Black Lives Matter movement saying that they had to “learn their place” and “take a knee in Maga”.
He also praised rioters in real time on January 6 and attacked her now-bossSecretary of State Marco Rubio – Invoking a false rumor according to which Rubio used to ensure parts in LGBTQ +foam.
Beattie serves now As one of the main public votes of the administration abroad after Trump appointed under Security in public diplomacy and public affairs. The role in the State Department helps to shape American messaging abroad. Asked about Beattie’s comments, Rubio underlined This Beattie was at the agency as an “actor” and answered new questions.
A graduate of West Point and a retired general brigadier, Anthony Tata was appointed in the spring of 2020 to become the third highest ranking manager of the Pentagon, as a defendant for the defense for politics. But its story of conspiratorial and inflammatory rhetoric, Discovered by CNNAs well as questions on his military file, derailed his appointment, which was then withdrawn.
Tata was then installed as an under-secretary to the Pentagon policy, which does not require a confirmation of the Senate, and then served as The under-secretary to the actor policy For the last two months of Trump’s first term.
Now Tata is appointed to become an under-secretary of staff and preparation for the Ministry of Defense, a leading civil role which oversees recruitment, social benefits and military preparation which could dismantle the efforts of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
But publications on social networks revealed by Kfile de CNN found that Tata had a history of use of inflammatory and conspiratorial rhetoric. He falsely called Obama a “terrorist leader” and a Muslim, deploring that “Obama has normalized Islam for America”. He frequently attacked Islam, calling it the “most oppressive violent religion I know”, and he called certain “violent extremist” democratic politicians. He too Pushed conspiracy theories This former CIA director John Brennan tried to overthrow Trump and even murdered him through a cryptic tweet.
Tata said that “it could be a good time” for Brennan to commit suicide or become a “b * tch prison”.
The senators also expressed their concern about the Tata military file. A 2007 army investigation noted that he had committed adultery with at least two women – a crime in military law – and submitted a falsified legal document during a child alimony case. The army refused to penalize Tata and could not determine who created the false legal document, and Tata retired shortly after.
HAS Its confirmation audience Last week, Tata refused to comment on CNN, but said that her past comments who derailed his previous appointment were “out of character”, and he regretted having done them and undertook to be “an apolitical leader”.
Leandro Rizzuto Jr., heir to the fortune of the Conair beauty product, faced a bipartite resistance in 2018 when Trump appointed him by Barbados and several Caribbean nations.
His appointment blocked his History of the promotion of conspiracy theories And using social media to spread the baseless attacks against public figures, including Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton. He also amplified false claims that Ted Cruz’s wife Heidi was a leading member trying to combine the governments of the United States, Canada and Mexico.
In a tweet now deleted, Rizzuto told Cruz to “return to Canada” and another tweet, he called Hillary Clinton “terrorist with amnesia”.
His appointment has never advanced and Rizzuto was then Installed as American consul general in Bermuda.
Rizzuto “retweeted nonsense”, he later said of his tweets.
Rizzuto told CNN in an email: “Past history is only that and my goal is more important to the interests of America.”
But this year, Trump has appointed Rizzuto to be an American permanent representative of the organization of American states. The position represents American interests in the first multilateral forum for countries in the Western hemisphere, including northern, south and Central America; the Caribbean; and Canada.