Stephen Miller fed white nationalist ideas to Breitbart, ex-editor says, and they've since 'become policy'
You may want to sit down for this one. Stephen Miller, the influential senior White House policy adviser who has steered President Trump's exclusionist immigration policy, sent hundreds of emails to a Breitbart News editor in 2015 and 2016 with links to white nationalist sites, successfully shaping Breitbart's coverage of race and immigration, according to a new report from the Souther Poverty Law Center. The former Breitbart editor, Katie McHugh, shared more than 900 emails from Miller with the SPLC's Hatewatch.
"What Stephen Miller sent to me in those emails has become policy at the Trump administration," McHugh told Hatewatch. Breitbart fired McHugh in 2017 after she posted an anti-Muslim tweet, and she has since renounced her white nationalist views. When McHugh worked at Breitbart, Miller sent her links to articles from VDARE, American Renaissance, and other sites tied to white nationalism, and he fixated on the "white genocide" conspiracy theory and touted the French anti-migrant novel The Camp of Saints, both of which are popular among white supremacists and neo-Nazis.
After lunch one day, "Miller asked me if I had seen the recent 'AmRen' article about crime statistics and race," McHugh told Hatewatch. "I responded in the affirmative because I had read it. Many of us (on the far right) had read it. I remember being struck by the way he called it 'AmRen,' the nickname." According to the SPLC, Miller got a piece he wrote for far-right site FrontPage Magazine republished in American Renaissance in 2005. Miller was also apparently upset that Amazon stopped selling Confederate battle flags after the 2015 Charleston massacre in a historic black church.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said administration officials were not familiar with the new report and called the SPLC a "far-left smear organization" whose work is "beneath public discussion."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91
Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
OJ Simpson, star athlete tried for murder, dead at 76
Speed Read The former football hero and murder suspect lost his battle with cancer
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Momofuku's 'Chili Crunch' trademark uproar
Speed Read The company's attempt to own the sole rights has prompted backlash
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Kevin Hart awarded Mark Twain Prize
Speed Read He is the 25th recipient of the prestigious comedy prize
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is Downton Abbey set to return for a final film?
Speed Read Imelda Staunton reveals that a third movie may be in the pipeline
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
'Oppenheimer' sweeps Oscars with 7 wins
speed read The film won best picture, best director (Christopher Nolan) and best actor (Cillian Murphy)
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Rust' armorer convicted of manslaughter
speed read The film's cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed by actor Alec Baldwin during rehearsal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The Beatles are getting 4 intersecting biopics
Speed Read Director Sam Mendes is making four separate movies, each told from the perspective of one band member
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published