Darren Beattie, the State Department’s acting undersecretary for public diplomacy hasn’t been doing much of his work in public.
But Beattie — who once said “competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work” and has frequently praised the Chinese government’s repressive tactics — is serving in a senior position and leading the department’s “free speech” priorities since his appointment earlier this year.
Beattie has also repeatedly endorsed mass sterilization for some Americans, people he views as “low-IQ trash.”
A senior State Department official told NOTUS this week that Beattie “played a key role in winding down” the Global Engagement Center, a program that countered foreign disinformation but received criticism in recent years from Republicans who accused it of targeting far-right voices within the United States.
“There is a lot more work to do and he will continue to lead in those efforts, including overseeing a Transparency Project at the department,” the State Department official told NOTUS of Beattie.
Beattie has long been a controversial figure: He was fired from his speechwriting job during the first Trump administration for appearing at a conference attended by known white nationalists. But his influence as an online MAGA ideologue has only grown in the years since. He has condemned NATO, American foreign policy and argued a partnership between Russia and China against western countries isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“NATO is a far worse threat to the health, liberty, freedom, and flourishing of American citizens than Russia and China combined,” Beattie said in February 2021.
Beattie has also criticized Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his views of foreign policy in the past — although an article supporting Beattie in a right-wing publication this week reported that Beattie has praised his new boss in recent conversations with friends.
“The secretary has deployed Beattie as the tip of the spear on what is increasingly being termed ‘free speech diplomacy’ by not only the Seventh Floor at Foggy Bottom, but also the vice president’s office,” wrote Curt Mills, the executive editor of the American Conservative, who said he has known Beattie for years.
Beattie’s style is far removed from Rubio’s — at least the public version of Rubio who served in the Senate. Beattie has questioned whether human-rights abuses are actually happening in China, claiming on multiple occasions that white men in western countries are treated far worse than Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The State Department has said China is committing genocide in Xinjiang, and Rubio led legislation to support Uyghurs when he was in Congress.
Beattie’s posts on X on sterilization are explicit.
“When a population gets feral, a little snip snip keeps things in control,” he wrote in 2023. “Could offer incentives (Air Jordans, etc.).”
“Population control? If only!” he wrote in May 2024. “Higher quality humans are subsidizing the fertility of lower quality humans.”
The State Department did not respond to multiple requests from NOTUS to interview Beattie for this story. Rubio has selected free speech attorney Sarah Rogers to fill Beattie’s role full-time, but it’s not clear when the Senate will get to her confirmation.
Beattie has kept a relatively low profile since joining the new Trump administration.
He’s stopped posting on social media — and he didn’t appear before a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on free speech within the State Department earlier this month, even though Rubio told reporters that the topic would be Beattie’s primary focus.
A spokesperson for Republicans on the committee didn’t answer when asked if they invited him to testify or if he has otherwise met privately with Foreign Affairs staff or members.
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, a California Democrat who sits on the committee, sent a letter to Rubio last month demanding Beattie’s removal.
“Darren Beattie persistently traffics in white nationalist ideology,” Kamlager-Dove and 43 other Democratic lawmakers wrote in the letter. “For a senior American diplomat to espouse these reprehensible, fringe views in representing the United States on the world stage would be categorically destructive to U.S. global standing.”
Beyond his work shuttering the Global Engagement Center, Beattie is also playing a role in the Fulbright program.
Politico reported this month that applicants for scholarships to study abroad are facing longer wait times to know if they’ve been approved, because, according to Curt Rice — the Fulbright executive director in Norway — Beattie “has created a one-time supplement to the selection process as he aspires to review all nominees to all countries himself.”
“Beattie’s declared ambition is to eliminate projects that are perceived as being in violation of the Executive Orders that have been issued since January 20th,” Rice wrote in an email to scholars, obtained by Politico.
Rubio has emphasized his support for Beattie’s work.
“Freedom of speech and expression have been a cornerstone of what it means to be an American citizen,” he said Wednesday in his announcement that the Global Engagement Center would be closed. “Under the administration of President Trump, we will always work to protect the rights of the American people, and this is an important step in continuing to fulfill that commitment.”
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Haley Byrd Wilt is a reporter at NOTUS.