John Gibbs (government official)
John Gibbs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Acting Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Personal details | |
| Education | Stanford University (B.S.) Harvard Kennedy School (M.P.A.) |
John Gibbs is an American government official. A former conservative commentator and software engineer, he has had several roles at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).[1] Gibbs was first the director of HUD's "Strong Cities, Strong Communities" initiative; in August 2017, under the Donald Trump administration, he became a senior adviser in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, and then acting Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development.[1] On July 21, 2020, Trump nominated Gibbs to be director of the United States Office of Personnel Management.[2][3] Gibbs has a history of making inflammatory remarks and spreading false conspiracy theories on his Twitter feed.[1]
Education and career
Gibbs received a computer science degree from Stanford University.[4] He was employed by Symantec, Palm, and Apple as a software engineer.[4] He worked in Japan for the evangelical Christian ministry WorldVenture for nearly seven years and is fluent in Japanese.[4] Gibbs' resume also includes a master's in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.[5]
Gibbs was a conservative commentator before joining the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as a political appointee[1][5][6] and advisor to Ben Carson, Trump's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.[4] Gibbs did not have housing experience before his appointment to HUD.[5] Gibbs' first position at the department was director of the Strong Cities, Strong Communities initiative;[1] however, by the time Gibbs was appointed, the Trump administration had already shuttered the Obama-era initiative, and so Gibbs never directed the program.[5] In August 2017, Gibbs became a senior adviser in HUD's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, and then became Acting Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development.[1][6]
Gibbs has a history of making inflammatory remarks and spreading false conspiracy theories on his Twitter feed.[1] On four occasions, he spread the false claim that John Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign took part in a "Satanic ritual";[1][6] the claim had arisen from far-right bloggers.[6] Gibbs also defended "Ricky Vaughn," an "alt-right" figure who had been banned from Twitter for his frequent antisemitic comments.[1] In early 2016, Gibbs used the term "cucks" (a derogatory word applied by the far-right to attack mainstream conservatives); he also disparaged Democrats as the party of "Islam, gender-bending, anti-police."[1][6] In a July 2020 interview with the Washington Examiner, Gibbs rejected criticism of his past remarks, saying, "I don't really see anything to apologize for."[7]
On July 20, 2020, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Gibbs to be the next Director of the United States Office of Personnel Management.[2] His nomination was officially made and sent to the Senate the next day.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Andrew Kaczynski, Trump's pick to head Office of Personnel Management spread 'satanic' conspiracy theory, called Democrats party of 'Islam' and 'gender-bending', CNN (July 22, 2020).
- ^ a b President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Individual to Key Administration Post, White House (July 20, 2020)
- ^ a b "PN2103 — John Gibbs — Office of Personnel Management, 116th Congress (2019-2020)". Congress.gov. United States Congress.
- ^ a b c d Adam Mazmanian, Trump taps HUD official to lead OPM, Federal Soup (July 21, 2020).
- ^ a b c d Tracy Jan, Ben Carson's HUD: Political loyalty required, no experience necessary, Washington Post (September 20, 2018).
- ^ a b c d e Andrew Kaczynski, Senior adviser at HUD spread conspiracy theory that Clinton campaign chairman was Satanist, CNN (March 8, 2018).
- ^ Crilly, Rob (July 30, 2020). "Trump nominee rejects criticism over tweets". Washington Examiner. Retrieved July 30, 2020.