As Pete Hegseth got to work as the nation’s new defense secretary earlier this year, he tapped Sean Parnell to serve as the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson. The choice was not without controversy: This was the same Parnell who was forced to abandon a Republican U.S. Senate campaign in Pennsylvania four years ago, following abuse allegations from his estranged wife, which he denied.
Nevertheless, a few months later, as Hegseth struggled to address multiple overlapping controversies, he overhauled his DOD leadership team and promoted Parnell to the role of senior adviser. That, of course, meant there was a vacancy in the office of the Pentagon press secretary.
Evidently, it’s been filled. The New York Times reported:
The Defense Department announced that Kingsley Wilson, the deputy press secretary who has drawn attention for past remarks criticized as antisemitic and racist, was promoted to be press secretary, the lead spokeswoman for the Pentagon. The American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group, had criticized her for the remarks back in March: “Anyone who posts antisemitic conspiracy theories lifted right out of the neo-Nazi playbook should not be in public office.”
For those unfamiliar with Wilson, a Mother Jones report published a couple of months ago summarized her record this way: “She’s also an overt internet troll with a long history of bigoted, xenophobic, and deliberately provocative s—posting.”
In fact, it reached the point in March that even some congressional Republicans raised public concerns about Team Trump’s vetting process. Politico reported:
The backlash over a top Pentagon aide who has touted antisemitic views, white supremacist conspiracy theories and Kremlin-like statements on social media grew wider on Wednesday in a sign of increasing frustration among Republicans about the Trump administration’s seemingly unvetted appointees. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson’s posts — which include comparing the murders of Israeli babies during the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks to abortion and spreading the far-right ‘great replacement theory’ — have angered lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Republican Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska told Politico, in reference to Wilson’s remarks, “It’s horrible, it’s just not appropriate.”
A senior Republican congressional aide added, “We’ve got enough real, serious challenges from outside without having to worry about Pentagon staff who like to spread antisemitism or Russian propaganda. I’m amazed at who this administration has been willing to trust with national security responsibilities.”
Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska was more cautious, but even he was willing to state the obvious: “Doing appropriate vetting for all those jobs is very important.”
That was two months ago. Last week, the Trump administration nevertheless responded to these concerns — by giving Wilson a promotion.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
