New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Milford Dems blast GOP speaker choice
Say Newsmax TV host Carl Higbie, a former Trump appointee, has ‘intolerant’ views
MILFORD — City Democratic leaders are criticizing local Republicans for selecting a former Donald Trump appointee who resigned over “racist, sexist, anti-Muslim and anti-gay” radio comments as the keynote speaker for the GOP party’s annual fundraiser May 30.
Carl Higbie, a Newsmax host, ex-Navy SEAL and a former Trump administration liaison, will be the keynote speaker for the Lincoln Reagan Dinner in Stratford on Saturday. Milford Democrats have taken to social media, calling him “an individual notorious for extremely intolerant and discriminatory views” and said it was “shameful” that he has been invited to speak at the event.
“It is profoundly disconcerting to witness many who have been elected, who are supposed to represent the entirety of our community — a community that embraces people from all walks of life — giving credence to such a divisive figure by attending this event,” the party said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “Hate has no place in Milford.”
Milford GOP Chairman John Drapp said he found the posts “pretty entertaining” because “what they are talking about are things that happened years if not decades ago.”
Higbie resigned in 2018 from his position as chief of external affairs at the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees organizations that include AmeriCorps and SeniorCorps after a CNN investigation found that he had made the racist comments against Black Americans, Muslims, women, LGBT people, veterans suffering from PTSD and immigrants as host of the radio program “Sound of Freedom,” from 2013 to 2016.
“This really is a very highprofile national person who has a very strong history of this type of behavior — bigoted and racist,” said Kathy Lutz, incoming chairperson of the Milford Democratic Town Committee, who questioned why the local GOP would invite Higbie to speak at one of its events. Higbie has apologized for the comments and continues to be an entertaining dinner speaker, Drapp said. “For starters, he is on TV. He is engaging enough to give them a show,” Drapp said. “He is also a combat vet who knows a thing or two about politics. Our present president has said some things in the past that were not meant the way they are interpreted.”
Local Republican advertisements for the dinner touted Higbie as “an incredible patriot.” A Greenwich resident, Higbie “will not only be our keynote speaker, but our dinner will be the first chance anyone has to get a signed copy of his upcoming book Profiles In Freedom,” the advertisement states. The dinner is the Republicans first major fundraiser of the year. The GOP is charging $100 to $200 per ticket for the dinner at Vazzano’s Four Seasons banquet hall.