Rep. Ritchie Torres to Sec. Pete Hegseth: Fire Kingsley Wilson

Today, Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) wrote to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth regarding Kingsley Wilson’s recent appointment as Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary. The letter reads (full PDF here):

“The appointment of Kingsley Wilson as Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary is an insult to the integrity of the Department of Defense. Doing a basic search through her social media history, it is clear that her record is a minefield of antisemitic rhetoric, white nationalist conspiracies, and pro-Kremlin propaganda—making her unfit for any position of public trust, let alone one at the high levels of the Pentagon press shop.

“Wilson has openly promoted the ‘great replacement’ theory, a racist conspiracy that has inspired mass shootings and terrorist attacks against the Jewish community. She has trivialized the October 7 Hamas massacre, spreading inflammatory falsehoods that minimize the barbarity of the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. In a particularly egregious instance, Wilson propagated neo-Nazi talking points by disputing the innocence of Leo Frank, a Jewish businessman who was wrongfully convicted and lynched in 1915—a case widely recognized as a grave miscarriage of justice fueled by antisemitism. And she has amplified anti-Kosovo propaganda, calling to ‘Make Kosovo Serbia Again’—a direct attack on the most pro-American ally in Europe, which aligns her with the interests of Vladimir Putin.

“This disgraceful hire is not an isolated incident for the Trump-Vance administration. Marko Elez, a staffer for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was reinstated after resigning over racist social media posts. Elez’s posts included statements such as: ‘Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool’ and ‘Normalize Indian hate.’ Despite these overtly hateful remarks, Elez was rehired following public support from Elon Musk and Vice President Vance.

“You frequently lament the supposed declining quality of military personnel, yet your own hiring decisions suggest you hold Pentagon staff to a far lower standard. If Kingsley Wilson is the type of person you believe should represent the Department of Defense, it raises serious questions about your judgment—and your commitment to the values that define this nation.

“Wilson’s continued presence at the Pentagon is a stain on its reputation and I call on you to fire her immediately. Anything less will be reasonably understood by the public as an endorsement on behalf of yourself and the Pentagon of her repugnant views.”