- Anthony Tata, the president’s candidate for a senior position in the Defense Department, abruptly canceled his confirmation hearing.
- Republican lawmakers reportedly hesitated to nominate Tata, who was found to have falsely called President Barack Obama a Muslim and described him as a “terrorist leader.”
- Tata also characterized Islam as the “most oppressive violent religion I know of.”
- “There are many Democrats and Republicans who did not know enough about Anthony Tata to consider him for a very significant position at the moment,” a Republican senator said in a statement.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
Anthony Tata, the president’s nominee for a senior position in the Defense Department, received his confirmation hearing abruptly from Senate hours Thursday morning, reinforcing the notion that Republicans have hesitated to advance a controversial figure.
Tata, a retired brigadier general from the US Army and a regular guest of Fox News, was nominated to serve as undersecretary of defense for politics, a senior position in the Defense Department currently held by James Anderson as an actor.
According to the initial consultation of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tata, Republican lawmakers hesitated to nominate the general, who was found to have falsely called President Barack Obama a Muslim on Twitter and described him as a “terrorist leader.”
Tata also described Islam as the “most oppressive violent religion I know of” in previous tweets. He later apologized for his Islamophobic comments, adding that they were “completely misplaced.”
“However, my regret has nothing to do with my nomination for the Under Secretary for Policy Defense,” he said in a statement, according to The Hill. “Rather, I have a lifetime of leadership in public service and a cadre of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and mentors and civilian protégés whom I disappointed with those comments.”
The confirmation hearing, which was scheduled for Thursday morning, was scrapped after the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, and the White House discovered they did not have the necessary votes to Boosting the nomination, an unidentified defense official told The Washington Post.
“There are many Democrats and Republicans who did not know enough about Anthony Tata to consider him for a very important position at the moment,” Inhofe said in a statement.
Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, said Inhofe “did the right thing here, and it is clear that this nomination will not go anywhere without a full, fair and open hearing.”
The White House is also expected to completely withdraw Tata’s nomination, officials with knowledge of the process told The Post, adding that there was still the possibility that Trump could place Tata in another job as an actor. A Senate source also told CNN that the White House intended to withdraw Tata’s nomination.
