TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — US Senator Andy Kim Tuesday expressed his opposition to the appointment of a controversial journalist for a key position in the State Department due to his controversial comments on Taiwan and Uyghurs.

The conservative website Revolver reported Monday that its founder, Darren Beattie, had been appointed Acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. 

In an interview on the MSNBC program “The ReidOut” host Joy Reid, Kim argued Beattie is unfit for the position because he has denied atrocities committed against Ugyhurs in China and has spoken out against US support of Taiwan.

Beattie gained notoriety for being terminated in 2018 from his position as Trump's speechwriter after it was revealed he spoke at a white nationalist rally in 2016, per The Independent. 

On Tuesday, a petition directed at US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was posted on Change.org opposing Beattie's appointment. The authors argued that Beattie's political stances “not only jeopardize the effective execution of the administration's strategy toward the PRC but also risk alienating Taiwan, one of our most significant allies in the region.”

Rubio said that Beattie had been selected “because he's strongly committed to ending the censorship programs that were being operated out of the State Department.”