New White House staffer under fire for old tweets calling police ‘slave patrols’
A recently hired White House staffer is stirring an uproar among conservatives on social media after years-old tweets opposing police, rebuking Israel, and more resurfaced.
Tyler Cherry, the newly minted White House associate communications director, distanced themself from their past statements on Sunday.
"Past social media posts from when I was younger do not reflect my current views. Period," Cherry, who is non-binary, wrote. "I support this Administration's agenda - and will continue my communications work focused on our climate and environmental policies."
Cherry previously served as director of communications for the Department of the Interior.
Tweets of theirs that were highlighted by critics included a take from 2015 that "police = slave patrols" and a post from 2018 calling for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to be abolished.
"Cheersing in bars to ending the occupation of Palestine - no shame and fuck your glares," Cherry wrote in a 2014 post that was similarly recently spotlit.
Other posts raised included past praise of Linda Sarsour, a pro-Palestinian activist who has been accused by the Anti-Defamation League and others of promoting antisemitic rhetoric. President Joe Biden's then campaign itself previously condemned her views in 2020.
The right-wing account Libs of TikTok highlighted a number of Cherry's old posts as well.
"New White House Associate Communications Director has a bunch of tweets complaining about there being too many White people," the account posted on Sunday, along with screenshots of Cherry blasting groups of both Bernie Sanders and Trump supporters as being comprised of mainly white people.
While Cherry on Sunday disavowed the old posts, they did not specify which views precisely have changed—and users were quick to tear them apart in the since-locked comment section.
"That’s really awesome to hear Tyler— could you elaborate on what views are different and which one of these past posts do not reflect your current views?" quipped right-wing commentator Ashley St. Clair, along with screenshots of several old posts.
"When did those views supposedly change and what changed them?" asked someone else, referencing another 2014-era anti-Israel post.
"'I was only a 28 year old child,'" joked another user.
And many others called for Cherry to resign.
"nah nice try buddy.. RESIGN," replied one user, whose post has since been liked more than 1,300 times.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Fox News in a statement that the White House was "very proud to have Tyler on the team."
Cherry appears to have deleted all previous posts on his account in wake of the uproar.
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