Stephen Miller, 39, is the man who whispers in Donald Trump’s right ear. During the billionaire’s first term, he contributed to the development of Donald Trump’s most extreme speeches, according to the Associated Press, and fanned generalizations about crimes allegedly committed by illegals. In his speeches and interventions, Stephen Miller, dressed to the nines, equates immigrants with “killers” and promises a glorious future for white nativists.
Trump appoints lieutenant Matt Gaetz as Justice Minister
A survivor of the Trump I era
The distinction is rare enough to be underlined: Stephen Miller passed through the four years of Donald Trump’s first term without firing a shot, marked by the waltz of advisors and senior officials. During this period, he became “one of the most powerful people in the American government” according to his biographer, journalist Jean Guerrero. The title of the book she dedicated to it in 2021 is eloquent: Hate mongers (Hate makernot translated, Harper&Collins).
From June 2017, the media Politico for his part, created a portrait entitled The Believer (The Believer). He is then depicted as “an obscure character suddenly elevated to a national role through hard work and loyalty”. In 2018, after two years spent in the West Wing of the White House (the legendary West Wing), the person concerned defines himself with The Atlantic like a “conservative social justice warrior”. The journalist who meets him portrays him as both “funny and charismatic”“zealous and hostile”. “Enigmatic”in short.
Stephen Miller was born on August 23, 1985, in Santa Monica, California. His paternal grandfather, also the son of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, studied law and created a real estate company. His father Michael, a lawyer and real estate investor, initially a moderate Democrat, moved closer to the Republicans. From high school, then during his higher education at Duke University, the young Stephen Miller distinguished himself by his desire to “provoke the liberals”.
In 2007, Stephen Miller became press secretary for Michele Bachmann, an elected Republican who joined the short-lived populist and libertarian Tea Party movement. In 2009, he moved to the service of Republican Senator from Alabama Jeff Sessions, whose opposition to immigration he shared. The young attaché will play a decisive role in the strategy developed by the senator to block reform of the immigration law. He becomes communications director for Jeff Sessions.
Bloodshots
In February 2016, Jeff Sessions became the first Republican senator to support Donald Trump’s candidacy. A few weeks earlier, according to PoliticoStephen Miller meets Donald Trump whom he captivates by recounting the episode on immigration reform. Donald Trump immediately invites him to open his meetings. The Trump campaign team includes the impetant in the inflammatory addresses: “Are you ready to secure this border? Are you ready to end Islamic terrorism?”
Having become an advisor to the White House on immigration issues, Stephen Miller will draft the draft Muslim Banthe ban on entry into the United States imposed on people from predominantly Muslim countries, signed by Donald Trump at the start of his first term. He was also the architect of the public health code restriction to block immigration during the pandemic.
In February 2017, Stephen Miller lost his temper during a press briefing and accused of “cosmopolitan bias” Jim Acosta, veteran CNN journalist. The journalist, son of a Cuban immigrant, cited the poem inscribed at the foot of the Statue of Liberty when questioning the conformity with American ideals of a law intended to halve legal immigration to the United States. . Last June, on the sidelines of the one and only debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, Stephen Miller lost his temper in the face of a Venezuelan journalist who tickled him about a number:“I’m screaming because children are being raped and murdered by illegal immigrants!”
Trump threatens Europe: European stock markets fall heavily
Supported by white supremacists
His critics make much of some nine hundred emails exchanged with the editorial staff of Breitbart Newsexhumed by the Hatewatch association in 2019. For the record, Breitbart is a far-right online media outlet co-founded by Steve Bannon (short-lived advisor to Donald Trump during the first six months of his first term).
Stephen Miller uses white supremacist verbiage and multiplies links to the sites of this movement. He cites as a dark future the novel The Camp of the Saints (1973) by Frenchman Jean Raspail (1925-2020). This dystopian story, which imagines the submersion of France after the arrival of boats loaded with immigrants, is praised by the far right as “prophetic” of the “great replacement”.
“These emails demonstrate that Mr. Miller’s views stem from his commitment to racist exclusion and the protection of a white demographic majority,” concludes an editorialist from New York Times in 2019. In an open letter, fifty associations denounce “the sectarianism, hatred and division” sown by Stephen Miller. The White House responds by denouncing “a form of anti-Semitism” in these “attacks”.
A zealous and loyal servant of Trump
While several members of the first Trump administration are keeping a low profile after the 2020 defeat and the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol, Stephen Miller remains loyal to the former president. Better: he is paving the way for the future by creating the America First Legal Foundation in March 2021. This non-profit association has taken dozens of legal actions against measures by the Biden administration. His agenda is in his name: America First. American First has prepared the road map for the second term: a “blitz” of measures and actions intended to overwhelm immigrant rights defenders. “They won’t know what’s happening to them.” predicted Stephen Miller at New York Timesa year ago.
The future deputy chief of staff of the White House has made no secret of the number one priority of the new administration. “For those concerned about securing our immigration system, […] “The first hundred days of the Trump administration will be pure bliss, followed by four more years of the harshest actions imaginable.” he said during the campaign, returning to his role as room driver. “Is this guy serious?” asked the journalist from 2018 The Atlantic. “Oui” replied in substance the person concerned, who “believes in every word he says.”
Democratic defector critical of Ukraine Tulsi Gabbard named intelligence director by Trump
