Pentagon press secretary has a ‘long history' of bigoted social media posts and now faces calls to resign
Jewish organizations have blasted the appointment of Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson, who compared the murders of Israeli infants during the October 7 Hamas attacks to abortion. She has also peddled the antisemitic conspiracy theory about Leo Frank, a Jewish businessman who was wrongly convicted and hanged for the murder of a 13-year-old Georgia girl in 1951.
The 26-year-old MAGA supporter, whose father is longtime Trump advisor and right-wing commentator Steve Cortes, joined the Pentagon's press office in January. A review of her social media activity by the outlet Mother Jones revealed 'a long history of bigoted, xenophobic, and deliberately provocative' posts.
In one post, Wilson supports the racist, xenophobic and long-debunked Great Replacement theory — the idea that there is a plot to replace white Americans with non-white immigrants, Mother Jones reported.
A post falsely claiming that Frank, 'raped & murdered a 13-year-old girl' and 'tried to frame a Black man for his crime' remained on Wilson's personal X account.
Wilson was responding to a post last year by the Anti-Defamation League that marked the anniversary of Frank's lynching 'by a hate-filled mob in Georgia after being falsely accused & unjustly convicted of murder in a trial marred by antisemitism.'
'Anyone who posts antisemitic conspiracy theories lifted right out of the neo-Nazi playbook should not be in public office,' Jewish civil rights group the American Jewish Committee, posted in a statement Wednesday. 'Kingsley Wilson, newly appointed @DepPressSecDOD, is clearly unfit for her role.'
The Independent has contacted Wilson and the Department of Defense for comment.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers also rebuked Wilson's posts.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wilson was 'completely off-script' with President Donald Trump. 'I'm not gonna tell them who to hire, but I do know that Trump doesn't believe any of the things she's talking about, and I'll leave it up to them to determine if they think she's the right spokesperson,' Graham told Politico.
Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska told the outlet that Wilson's remarks were 'horrible' and 'just not appropriate.'
'Sometimes people think they're anonymous when they're on social media, that they can comment or post on whatever may be their attitude at the time, and then they later regret it,' the Republican said.
Democratic congressman Ritchie Torres called Wilson out for a post she wrote about Kosovo at the end of February, signaling her support for Russia. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
'Kingsley Wilson, the Deputy Press Secretary for the Department of Defense, is shamefully attempting to delegitimize Kosovo, which has been the single greatest American ally in the Western Balkans,' the congressman wrote on X.
'No amount of historical revisionism can change the fundamental fact that Kosovo is and will always be an independent democracy.'
Unvetted appointments such as Wilson's at the Pentagon have raised red flags for some GOP members. 'We've got enough real, serious challenges from outside without having to worry about Pentagon staff who like to spread antisemitism or Russian propaganda,' a senior Republican congressional aide told Politico on the condition of anonymity. 'I'm amazed at who this administration has been willing to trust with national security responsibilities.'
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