A speechwriter who joined the Department of Homeland Security in March has in the past promoted the antisemitic “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory and compared conservatives in the United States to Jews in Nazi Germany.
The baseless theory alleges that a shadowy cabal, usually of Jews, is working to replace white people with non-white immigrants. The theory has inspired multiple antisemitic and extremist attacks, including the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and an attack on a Buffalo, New York, grocery store in 2022.
Several months after the Buffalo shooting, which killed 10 shoppers, Eric Lendrum endorsed the theory on his podcast — not for the first time. He said it was “real” and “already being put into effect in some European cities.”
He had previously argued in a different episode that the theory was not antisemitic, saying, “Literally no one blames this on Jews.”
Lendrum’s past comments — made on podcasts, in columns and on social media — were first reported this week by Notus, an independent news outlet covering the government. The site noted that while Lendrum’s digital output was vast, his audience appeared to be relatively small.
His X account, to which he has limited visibility to his 450 followers after Notus’ report, follows 88 accounts — a number that is widely understood to be a white supremacist code representing “Heil Hitler.” Other figures accused of antisemitism in the past have followed just 88 accounts despite using the platform frequently.
The Notus report adds Lendrum to a growing list of Trump administration hires, drawn from a vast far-right media ecosystem, who have promoted antisemitic rhetoric and ideas. It comes at a time when his department has posted social media content that appears to contain antisemitic dogwhistles.
The department’s website suggests that speechwriters are not responsible for social media posts. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Lendrum’s past comments.
Before being hired at DHS in March, according to his LinkedIn profile, Lendrum wrote for the right-wing site American Greatness and worked as an associate producer for the radio show hosted by Sebastian Gorka, a former Trump advisor who was accused of having sworn allegiance to a Hungarian Nazi group.
“American conservatives are, right now, on a course for being every bit as ostracized and alienated from broader society as Jews were in the years leading up to Nazi Germany,” Lendrum, who graduated from college in 2017, wrote in one American Greatness column in 2021.
According to the DHS Office of Public Affairs’ website, Lendrum’s duties as a speechwriter include preparing “speeches, talking points, editorials, Congressional testimony, video scripts, web content and other written content for the Secretary and Deputy Secretary.”
Other Trump administration hires with records of promoting extremist ideas include Kingsley Wilson, who was appointed as the Pentagon press secretary in May, has repeatedly echoed antisemitic rhetoric online, sparking criticism from the House Jewish Caucus.
The appointment of Darren Beattie as the acting under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs in February also drew criticism for his track record of consorting with white supremacists and hawking conspiracy theories.
And the appointment of Paul Ingrassia in May to a senior legal role raised eyebrows because of his past defense of the avowed white supremacist Nick Fuentes and work with antisemitic influencer Andrew Tate.
Most recently, President Donald Trump tapped E.J. Antoni, who has said the Nazi warship Bismarck is “hard not to love,” to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
