Former Interior Department communications director under the Biden administration, Tyler Cherry, has been appointed as an associate communications director at the White House. This comes despite last year’s controversy surrounding Cherry’s social media posts condemning law enforcement, criticizing Republicans, and supporting anti-Israel sentiments.
Cherry has a history of contentious social media engagement. In 2015, amid the Baltimore riots following the death of Freddie Gray, he expressed hope for an end to a “capitalistic police state motivated by explicit and implicit racial biases” and later drew a direct lineage between the modern-day police system and “slave patrols and lynch mobs.”
In 2018, Cherry advocated for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a key agency responsible for curbing cross-border crime and illegal immigration. He also voiced support for Palestine during the 2014 Gaza War, during which Palestinian forces, led by Hamas, launched hundreds of rockets into Israel, triggering an intense Israeli response.
Cherry’s criticism wasn’t solely external; he also targeted his own party. In a 2017 post, he argued that the Tea Party’s focus was largely on “racism and white grievance politics,” rather than addressing issues of debt and deficit.
Despite the potential controversy of hiring Cherry, White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates welcomed him to the administration’s team.