Tyler Cherry is the newly promoted associate communications director at the White House. He recently addressed criticism from conservatives regarding his past social media posts, stating that posts from his younger years do not represent his current views. Screenshots circulating from 2014-2017 allegedly showed him criticizing police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Past social media posts from when I was younger do not reflect my current views. Period. I support this Administration’s agenda – and will continue my communications work focused on our climate and environmental policies,” Tyler Cherry stated on Sunday on the social platform X. His statement came amidst circulating screenshots of older posts.
It appears that any of Cherry’s posts on X before April 2022 have been deleted, making the screenshots difficult to verify independently. The handle @TylerACherry seen in the screenshots matches Cherry’s current X account name.
According to two screenshots from January 2015, Cherry allegedly wrote, “Police = slave patrols. Voter ID = poll taxes. #NAACPBombing = KKK bombings. Neither slavery nor Jim Crow WERE THAT LONG AGO. We just evolved.”
Cherry also commented, “Apt time to recall that the modern day police system is a direct evolution of slave patrols and lynch mobs #McKinney,” days after footage of a white officer in McKinney, Texas, circulated, showing him cursing, pointing his weapon at two Black teenagers, and wrestling a 14-year-old girl to the ground during a pool party incident.
In another screenshot from August 2014, Cherry discussed American weapons sales to Israel in response to Samantha Power, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who expressed strong support for the U.N.'s humanitarian efforts during the 2014 Gaza war.
Cherry wrote, “@AmbassadorPower @shebenatalie @UNRWA and yet continues to let Israeli forces restock their arsenals with US ammunition and weapons.”
Cherry, who is openly gay, formerly held the role of principal deputy communications director at the Interior Department and encountered online attacks last year.
In October, the right-wing social media account LibsofTikTok scrutinized Cherry's presence on X by circulating photographs and old posts. These posts ignited discussions about Cherry's presentation and drew criticism from conservative circles regarding standards of professionalism.
The White House at that time condemned the attacks and defended Cherry as a crucial member of the team.
“No one should be targeted simply for being themselves. It is cruel and unacceptable,” the White House stated back then. “This is an administration that believes to our core in the principle that out of many, we are one — and we are proud that the people who serve in it reflect those values as well. Tyler is an invaluable member of our team who continues to deliver for the Department of the Interior and the American people.”
Cherry is also an advocate for LGBTQ rights and is involved in a queer DJ collective in D.C., as reported by The Washington Post. He began his tenure at the Interior Department at the beginning of the Biden administration.
