Democrats call Stephen Miller 'white nationalist,' ask for resignation after SPLC report
WASHINGTON – More Democratic lawmakers are calling for the resignation of senior White House adviser Stephen Miller following a report from the Southern Poverty Law Center that claimed leaked emails showed Miller promoted white nationalist literature to Breitbart from 2015 to 2016.
The leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus issued a joint statement on Thursday asking Miller to step down in light of the report.
"It’s clearer than ever that Stephen Miller is a far-right white nationalist with a racist and xenophobic worldview. His beliefs are appalling, indefensible, and completely at odds with public service," said the statement from Reps. Mark Pocan, Pramila Jayapal, Karen Bass, Joaquin Castro and Judy Chu.
More: Advocacy group releases leaked emails from White House adviser Stephen Miller to Breitbart
Their statement followed calls from other Democrats for Miller's resignation, including high-profile freshman lawmakers Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
As the man often credited with crafting President Donald Trump's policies aimed at curbing both legal and illegal immigration, Miller has been a lightning rod for immigration rights activists. His critics have accused him of racism before and they now say the SPLC report proves they were right.
More: Donald Trump Jr. slams Ilhan Omar for calling Stephen Miller a 'white nationalist'
More: Stephen Miller's D.C. home a target of immigration policy protest
"As documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Stephen Miller has embedded himself in white nationalist doctrine for years, including promoting racist propaganda from fringe sites like VDARE and InfoWars," the Democratic caucus leaders said in their statement. "And as the chief architect of the Muslim Ban and cruel family separation policies, Stephen Miller has spent the last three years turning his bigotry into policy –with President Trump’s blessing."
The lawmaker statement said "someone who writes, talks, and governs like a white nationalist is in fact a white nationalist" and that such a person "has no business serving in the White House."
Former Breitbart editor Katie McHugh told the SPLC, "What Stephen Miller sent to me in those emails has become policy at the Trump administration."
The SPLC report said it looked at more than 900 emails that Miller – who was at that time an aide to then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. – sent from his official email to Breitbart editors between March 2015 to June 2016.
The report said 80% dealt with issues of race and immigration, including some related to fears of "white genocide."
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham told The Washington Post that she had not seen the report but said it was "beneath public discussion" and denounced the SPLC as "an utterly-discredited, long-debunked far-left smear organization."
Contributing: Savannah Behrmann
Fox News host to Stephen Miller: 'No question' Trump is 'stoking racial divisions'
More: White House adviser Stephen Miller defends national emergency in heated exchange on Fox News
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stephen Miller: Democratic caucus leaders want resignation over report
