A newly promoted White House official, Tyler Cherry, is facing scrutiny after deleting nearly 2,500 tweets following backlash over resurfaced social media posts. Cherry, who was recently elevated to associate communications director at the White House after over three years at the Department of Interior, took down the tweets between Sunday night and Monday morning. The deletions were tracked by the Social Blade analytics website.
Cherry’s old tweets, which included criticism of police, Republicans, and anti-Israel comments, sparked a social media firestorm. His posts were brought to light by Fox News Digital, highlighting some of his most controversial statements. For example, in 2014, Cherry tweeted support for Gaza during the conflict with Israel, and in 2015, he criticized the police system, describing it as an evolution of slave patrols and lynch mobs. In 2018, he called for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
An actual tweet from Tyler Cherry, the new White House Associate Communications Director who was trained at Media Matters: pic.twitter.com/ncjGZTz7rj
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 24, 2024
“Cheersing in bars to ending the occupation of Palestine – no shame and f— your glares #ISupportGaza #FreePalestine,” Cherry said on July 25, 2014, in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Praying for #Baltimore, but praying even harder for an end to a capitalistic police state motivated by explicit and implicit racial biases,” Cherry posted in 2015 amid riots that were sparked following the death of Freddie Gray.
BREAKING: New White House Associate Communications Director deleted all his past tweets except his most recent one where he backpedals on all his past posts. https://t.co/bLECPrNXIv pic.twitter.com/l4cOgAyAHO
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 24, 2024
Following the backlash, Cherry addressed the situation on X (formerly Twitter), stating that his past posts do not reflect his current views and reaffirming his support for the Biden administration’s climate and environmental policies. Despite the controversy, White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates expressed pride in having Cherry on the team.
Cherry’s deletions and the nature of his previous tweets have drawn significant attention, with conservative accounts like LibsofTikTok and retired diplomat Alberto Miguel Fernandez commenting on the issue.
