Biden official responds to fury over comparing cops to modern slavery
White House official Tyler Cherry is downplaying his previously social media posts after his controversial views garnered widespread criticism. Cherry, who last week was promoted to White House associate communications director, previously called police the evolution of 'slave patrol' and called for abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and supported the anti-Israel movement.
'Past social media posts from when I was younger do not reflect my current views. Period,' Cherry wrote on X . He added: 'I support this Administration's agenda - and will continue my communications work focused on our climate and environmental policies.'
Several critics on X claims that Cherry is trying to 'cheap fake' his previous tweets, which means manipulate or alter them. But the White House staffer did not dispute the authenticity of his past posts, only that his views had evolved. Before his promotion last week, Cherry spent more than three years under Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
His movement to the White House communication team has reupped his previously posts on X, formerly Twitter. Several posts from around a decade ago express anti-police and anti-Israel views.
'Cheersing in bars to ending the occupation of Palestine – no shame and f*** your glares #ISupportGaza #FreePalestine,' he wrote in a post from July 25, 2014. President Joe Biden has repeatedly reaffirmed his administration's support of Israel amidst war in Gaza with Hamas terrorists. This stance has angered the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
In January 2015, Cherry wrote: 'Police=slave patrol. Voter ID = poll tax.' In another 2015 post, Cherry said he was 'praying even harder for an end to a capitalistic police state motivated by explicit and implicit racial biases.' That tweet came during riots following the death of Freddie Gray, a black man, in Baltimore while in police custody.
'Apt time to recall that the modern day police system is a direct evolution of slave patrols and lynch mobs,' he posted to X in June 2015. Then, Cherry pushed the Russia-gate conspiracy in a 2017 post with: 'At this point, how is everyone in the White House (Pence included) *not* complicit in the Russia scandal?'
Others posts directly call out Republicans and accuse them of being too focused on 'white grievance politics.' But Cherry says he was younger when these posts were written and that he falls in line with the goals and directive of the Biden administration.
His past calls to abolish ICE are concerning to some considering the current administration's stance toward immigration and the southern border crisis. Republicans and border hawks say Biden has implemented open border policies that have caused mayhem within the U.S. immigration system. Nearly 8 million illegal migrants have crossed the southern border since Biden took office in 2021 and reversed Trump-era immigration policies.
