Trump nominee for US State Department post withdraws after his comments on race spark criticism

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump’s nominee for a State Department role withdrew from consideration following scrutiny about his previous remarks on race.

"Unfortunately, for senior positions such as this one, the support of the President and Secretary of State is very important but not sufficient. We also needed the unanimous support of every GOP Senator on the Committee on Foreign Relations, given the unanimous opposition of Senate Democrats to my candidacy, and unfortunately, at this time this unanimous support was not forthcoming," Jeremy Carl wrote Tuesday on US social media company X.

Carl, who was nominated to be the assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, said the Senate decides presidential appointments at that level.

"I accept that political reality, and do not wish to have the President, Secretary (Marco) Rubio, or the rest of his team waste valuable time and energy attempting to change that decision,” he added.

Members of the Foreign Relations Committee questioned Carl during his confirmation hearing last month, with several raising concerns about his previous remarks on race and religion.

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer welcomed Carl's withdrawal from nomination.

"Good riddance to that white supremacist, right-wing bigot. Jeremy Carl had a long history of being antisemitic and openly racist. I am glad he was exposed and rejected," Schumer said Wednesday.

The Democrat also said he will continue to fight Trump’s "openly white supremacist and antisemitic nominees."