Trump appointee Carl Higbie resigns over comments

Carl HigbieCNCS

Carl Higbie was the external affairs chief at an agency which runs volunteer groups

A government official appointed by US President Donald Trump has resigned after racist and sexist comments he made were uncovered.

Carl Higbie was the external affairs chief at the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) agency, which runs volunteer groups.

Mr Higbie made the comments on an internet radio show he presented before joining the Trump administration.

On Friday, Mr Higbie said on Twitter that he was sorry for the comments.

CNN posted recordings of Mr Higbie making comments of a racist, sexist and homophobic nature on the talk radio show, Sound of Freedom, in 2013 and 2014.

"I just don't like Muslim people because their ideology sucks," he said, saying that if this made him racist then "fine if that's the definition of it". He also made obscene comments about Muslim people.

On another occasion he said black people had "lax" morals and black women thought "breeding [was] a form of government employment". Another time he said that by recognising same-sex marriages, Rhode Island state was "breaking the morals" of the US.

Announcing his resignation on Friday, Mr Higbie apologised for the comments, saying they did not reflect what he stood for.

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Mr Higbie was appointed by Mr Trump to be the external affairs chief at the CNCS agency in August 2017.

The agency runs volunteer groups including AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and the Social Innovation Fund.

Mr Higbie is a former Navy SEAL who served two tours of Iraq. During one of his radio shows, the veteran said that post-traumatic stress disorder was "a trait of a weak mind".

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