A disgraced Trump appointee who resigned over bigoted remarks is hosting a Newsmax program

Trump officials frequently appear on Carl Higbie's show

Written by Eric Hananoki

Published

An image of Carl Higbie and Eric Trump

Newsmax TV has scrapped the bottom of the right-wing media barrel by giving a show to Carl Higbie. The right-wing talker is a disgraced former Trump administration official who stated that “the Black race” has “lax” morals, “shared an N-word laden post” on Facebook, said that he doesn’t like gay or Muslim people, and commented that he’d volunteer to shoot undocumented immigrants. 

Newsmax TV has been trying to position itself as a network somehow even more obsequious to President Donald Trump than Fox News. CNN’s Brian Stelter recently noted that “some Trump loyalists are raging against Fox and changing the channel to Newsmax instead” and “Trump is encouraging it by retweeting Twitter users who are trashing Fox and promoting Newsmax.” 

Newsmax has hired several pro-Trump personalities, including noted liar and former White House press secretary Sean Spicer; disgraced plagiarist Benny Johnson; former Fox Nation hosts Diamond and Silk; former NRATV host Grant Stinchfield; and Higbie. 

Higbie previously worked in the Trump administration as the chief of external affairs for the Corporation for National and Community Service but resigned in 2018 after CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski reported on the “racist, sexist, anti-Muslim and anti-LGBT comments he made on the radio” before he worked there. He later moved on to the pro-Trump group America First Policies but also resigned from that organization in 2018. That departure came shortly after Andrew Perez reported for MapLight that three companies said they wouldn’t donate to the PAC because of its association with Higbie. 

Higbie now hosts the Saturday Report with Carl Higbie, which Newsmax claims “tackles the big headlines with smart analysis from top experts.” The program appears to have officially started in August. 

The show has unsurprisingly featured numerous Trump advisers, including Jenna Ellis, Roger Stone, Alan Dershowitz, Corey Lewandowski, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Ric Grenell, Eric Trump, and Lara Trump. During the beginning of his interview, Eric Trump congratulated Higbie on his new show and said that “we’re all proud of you.” 

Here are examples of toxic comments Higbie has made over the years: 

  • Higbie “said ‘the black race’ had ‘lax’ morals. He added that Black women think ‘breeding is a form of government employment.’” 
  • Higbie has stated: “I just don't like Muslim people.” 
  • Higbie has said: “I don't like gay people. I just don't." 
  • Higbie said he would “volunteer” to go to the U.S. border with Mexico and shoot undocumented immigrants who attempt to cross the border. 
  • Higbie, who served as a Navy SEAL, has “derided members of the military suffering from severe PTSD as having ‘a weak mind’ and said 75% of those afflicted were either lying or milking it for federal money.” 
  • Higbie “shared an N-word laden post written by someone else on Facebook in December 2014.” 
  • Higbie boasted of asking fellow airline passengers whom he deemed as “Muslim jihad-looking” if they’re terrorists: “You put a rag on your head, it’s my right to be suspicious. When I get on an airplane and I’m sitting next to some Muslim jihad-looking dude, I ask him. I say, ‘Dude, are you a terrorist?’ And he gets all bent out of shape.”
  • Higbie called Hurricane Katrina survivors “stupid,” “idiots,” and “human parasites.” 
  • Higbie said to Puerto Ricans (who are Americans): “If you are so proud of your old country, then go back.” 
  • Higbie recounted verbally attacking a woman for being “too fat to fit” in an airline seat.
  • Higbie wrote: “I certainly don’t agree with slavery, but I do think that you should play the hand you are dealt, and good physical genetics are definitely dealt to many blacks.”