Mike Benz is Israeli intelligence
Rubio meets Jewish former Trump official who said Hitler ‘had some decent points’
Influencer Michael Benz praises US secretary of state’s decision to close office tracking propaganda from Russia and Iran, which some conservatives say muzzled free speech
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio promoted an interview this week with a conservative influencer who has praised Hitler online, in the latest example of a Trump official conversing with a white nationalist figure.
Michael Benz, who served in the State Department in Trump’s first term, revealed in 2023 that he was the author of “Frame Game,” an alt-right account that has for years posted rants about “the Jewish influence in the West” and promoted the idea that Jews have orchestrated a mass ethnic replacement.
“Let me be clear: I am extremely proud of this,” Benz, who is Jewish, told NBC News after being questioned about the links between himself and the account. He described Frame Game as “a project by Jews to get people who hated Jews to stop hating Jews.”
Speaking to Rubio on Wednesday in a talk released by the State Department, Benz quizzed him on how the department would be changing its approach to free-speech issues under Trump. Benz praised the secretary for what he called “restoring free speech and America’s role as the beacon of free speech,” while Rubio criticized what he described as “disinformation” produced by the news media.
Under Rubio, the US State Department has engaged in sweeping revocations of international student visas, in an initiative the secretary has described as part of the administration’s fight against antisemitism. He revoked one student’s visa for writing a student newspaper op-ed critical of Israel, and in another case, he has argued that “otherwise lawful” speech could still be prosecuted if it enabled antisemitism.
On Wednesday, Rubio also announced that he was shuttering what had been known as the Global Engagement Center because it had taken actions to restrict freedom of speech in the United States and elsewhere. He also accused it of wasting US taxpayer money.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/rubio-meets-jewish-former-trump-official-who-said-hitler-had-some-decent-points/