Trump appointee resigns after CNN unearths offensive radio comments

Carl Higbie resigns after controversial comments surface — (Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/CNN)

On Thursday, Carl Higbie resigned as head of external affairs for the federal government's volunteer services organization after CNN's Andrew Kaczynski dug up comments he had made on the radio disparaging black people, women, Muslims, gay people, veterans with PTSD, and other groups. President Trump appointed Higbie, a Trump campaign surrogate and spokesman for his Great America PAC, in 2017 to be the public face of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which oversees programs like AmeriCorps and Senior Corps.

Many of the comments were from Higbie's time as host of the internet radio show "Sound of Freedom." In one December 2013 episode, for example, Higbie said "the black race" has "a lax of morality," and black women "think that breeding is a form of employment." You can read and listen to more of his comments at CNN. "Effective immediately, Carl Higbie has resigned as chief of external affairs at CNCS," agency spokeswoman Samantha Jo Warfield said in a statement. The White House did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.