Beni Rae Harmony: New White House press assistant with a controversial past

The departure of Donald Trump's former press secretary Karoline Leavitt has left a gap: There is currently no face who defends the US President's policies to the press. Vice President J.D. Vance and officials regularly take turns filling in when journalists gather in the White House press room.

But with Beni Rae Harmony, Trump now has at least a new deputy speaker. The 24-year-old announced on Friday that she would be working for the White House in the future.

She is familiar with the president's work - most recently she worked as a reporter for the pro-Trump, right-wing media "Real America's Voice". The portal also publishes the show “War Room” by Trump’s former advisor, the right-wing extremist thinker Steve Bannon.

Harmony recently traveled to Ireland with Trump and was in the front row with other media representatives when the US President answered questions on board his plane. She asked him friendly questions.

She is one of a growing group of representatives of Trump-affiliated media to whom the US government is constantly giving more space. Journalists from CNN, Politico and MS Now, on the other hand, recently had to fight for access to the White House in court.

As she takes office, the 24-year-old's past comes into focus. As the British newspaper The Guardian first reported, there are images of Harmony wearing a T-shirt that says "Fuck Joe Biden" and holding a sniper rifle that appear to be from 2021. Harmony confirmed the authenticity of the images in a reply to an X post.

Harmony also previously worked for two scandal-hit Republican lawmakers. She initially worked for Paul Gosar, a member of the House of Representatives who was considered right-wing extremist.

He distributed an anime-style video in late 2021 in which he murdered Democratic Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez with a sword and threatened then-President Joe Biden. The House of Representatives then formally reprimanded him and removed him from all committees. Harmony defended him in a video appearance at the time.

She later advised Republican Matt Gaetz, who is no longer in the US Congress. Parliament's ethics committee had accused him of drug use and abuse of minors.

When contacted by the Guardian, the White House did not directly respond to questions about the new spokeswoman's past. As a journalist, she was already a “voice of the MAGA movement” and an “excellent addition” to Trump’s press team, it was said.