Carlton Milo Higbie IV (born April 23, 1983) is an American conservative political activist, author, and former U.S. Navy SEAL. He was director of advocacy for

America First Policies America First Policies (A1P) is an organization created following the inauguration of Donald Trump in 2017 to promote the America First policy agenda of his administration. It was founded by Trump campaign people including Nick Ayers, Rick Gat ...

, a group that promotes

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's policy agenda. In August 2017, Higbie was selected to serve as the chief of external affairs for the

Corporation for National and Community Service AmeriCorps ( ; officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in service through a variety of stipended volunteer wor ...

, resigning several months later after his comments denigrating minorities were discovered by media. He served as a spokesperson for

Great America PAC Great America PAC is a Super PAC (political action committee) that supported Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. It was founded in 2016 by Eric Beach, a political strategist and veteran of presidential campaigns. Beach soon brought ...

, which supported Trump's 2016 presidential candidacy and assisted his transition into office. In April 2023,

Newsmax Newsmax, Inc. (or Newsmax.com, previously styled NewsMax) is an American cable news, political opinion commentary, and digital media company founded by Christopher Ruddy in 1998. It has been variously described as conservative, right-wing, an ...

began airing ''Carl Higbie Frontline'', a daily program hosted by Higbie. Higbie served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

from 2005 to 2012. He served two tours of duty in

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

, reaching the rank of Special Warfare Operator, First Class. He has written two books about his experiences, and has regularly appeared as a commentator on

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

, and

. On February 5, 2024, he and two other people filed a lawsuit in the

United States District Court for the Northern District of New York The United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (in case citations, N.D.N.Y.) serves one of the 94 judicial districts in the United States and one of four in the state of New York. Appeals from the Northern District of Ne ...

challenging New York's laws that ban non-residents from bringing and publicly carrying firearms in the state.

Early and personal life

Higbie was born on April 23, 1983, in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

. After graduating

Greenwich High School Greenwich High School is a four-year public high school in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. The school is part of the Greenwich Public Schools system and serves roughly 2,700 students. It offers over 295 courses and a wide variety of co-cu ...

, he attended college at

Sacred Heart University Sacred Heart University (SHU) is a private, Roman Catholic university in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1963 by Walter W. Curtis, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sacred Heart was the first Catholi ...

before dropping out to join the military as troops were being deployed to Iraq.During his show on October 17, 2024, Higbie revealed that he has ADD, better known as ADHD.

Military service

Higbie enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and became a

SEAL Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

in 2005, ultimately reaching the rank of

Petty Officer First Class Petty officer first class (PO1) is a rank found in some navies and maritime organizations. Canada Petty officer, 1st class, PO1, is a Naval non-commissioned member rank of the Canadian Forces. It is senior to the rank of petty officer 2nd-cla ...

( E-6 grade) with a

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of a metric (e.g. quality, quantity, a combination of both,...). Rating or rating system may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness ...

of Special Warfare Operator, First Class. He was twice deployed to Iraq to serve in

, once each under presidents

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. Higbie is the author a self-published book titled ''Battle on the Home Front: A Navy SEAL's Mission to Save the American Dream'' in 2012, after which his

security clearance A security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information (state or organizational secrets) or to restricted areas, after completion of a thorough background check. The term "security clearance" is ...

was downgraded from "top secret." He signed out of the SEALs before the end of his term of duty with an

honorable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...

. Some two months later, the Navy downgraded his discharge to "general." However, upon appeal his Honorable Discharge was restored. A second book, ''Enemies, Foreign and Domestic: A SEAL's Story'', was published by

Post Hill Press Post Hill Press, distributed by Simon & Schuster, is a small United States print and e-book publishing house that focuses on publishing "conservative politics" and Christian titles. The company was founded in 2013, and has offices in New York City ...

in 2016.

Congressional campaign

In 2014, Higbie announced that he was running to be the Republican Party nominee to challenge

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Jim Himes James Andrew Himes (born July 5, 1966) is an American businessman and politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 2009. Himes is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Pa ...

Connecticut's 4th congressional district Connecticut's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in the panhandle, the district is largely suburban and extends from Bridgeport, the largest city in the state, to Greenwich – an are ...

, declaring himself to not be "bound by the same conformist rules that most Republicans are bound by." At the time, Higbie was working as a personal trainer at Equinox in

. The other Republican candidates were former

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Dan Debicella Dan Debicella (born October 24, 1974) is a former State Senator and businessman, who represented the 21st district in the Connecticut State Senate. He was also the 2010 and 2014 Republican candidate for Connecticut's Fourth Congressional Distric ...

and

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

John Shaban. Higbie described himself as a

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...

with "moral oppositions to

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

s and

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

, but my legislative position is live and let live," and stated that he would vote to repeal the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

. On economic issues, Higbie supported "a balanced budget amendment and an across-the-board personal income tax rate of 10 percent, with a maximum annual deduction of $50,000," and he favored eliminating corporate taxes to attract overseas businesses. Higbie had difficulty with fundraising during his candidacy, and sought to force a

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

if he were not endorsed as the candidate. Debicella won the nomination overwhelmingly, with support from 195 of the 210 delegates, but lost the general election to the incumbent, Jim Himes, who won with 53.7% of the vote.

Great America PAC

Higbie is a spokesman for

, an independent-expenditure only political action committee (

Super PAC Independent expenditure-only political action committees, better known as super PACs, are a type of political action committee (PAC) in the United States. Unlike traditional PACs, super PACs are legally allowed to fundraise unlimited amounts of m ...

) which advocates for

. In this capacity, he has acted as a Trump surrogate, appearing on news networks including

and

. Higbie has discussed a variety of topics including the war in Iraq, the composition of the Trump transition team, the controversy relating to

Khizr Khan Khizr Khan (reigned 28 May 1414 – 20 May 1421) was the founder of the Sayyid dynasty, the fourth ruling dynasty of the Delhi sultanate, in northern India soon after the invasion of Timur and the fall of the Tughlaq dynasty. Khizr Khan was Go ...

's appearance at the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

, the proposal for a registry of

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

immigrants, and the

National Policy Institute The National Policy Institute (NPI) was a white supremacist think tank and lobbying group based in Alexandria, Virginia. It lobbied for white supremacists and the alt-right. Its president was Richard B. Spencer. It has been largely inactive ...

conference.

Iraq

In a CNN interview with retired- Major General

Paul Eaton Paul D. Eaton (born 1950) is a former United States Army officer who commanded the operations to train Iraqi troops during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Eaton served in that capacity between 2003 and 2004, and then returned to the US to become Deputy C ...

and

Chris Cuomo Christopher Charles Cuomo ( ; born August 9, 1970) is an American television journalist anchor at NewsNation, based in New York City. He has previously been the ABC News chief law and justice correspondent and the co-anchor for ABC's '' 20/20 ...

, Higbie was critical of the use of air power and drone strikes by the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

and argued in support of Trump's promise to address problems in Iraq with "boots on the ground." He was also critical of Eaton, who was the U.S. Army Chief of Infantry and then the Commanding General of the

Coalition Military Assistance Training Team The Coalition Military Assistance Training Team (CMATT) was a part of the Coalition Provisional Authority created to organize, train and equip the Iraqi Army from 2003. It later became part of Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq (MNST ...

in Iraq (2003–2004), stating that the leadership " aton'sarticulated here today is not conducive to winning a war."

Trump transition team

During the transition following the

2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...

, Higbie defended

Steve Bannon Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist for the first seven months of president Donald Trump's first ...

from accusations of

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

, and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

. Of Bannon's appointment as chief strategist to

President-elect An ''officer-elect'' is a person who has been elected to a position but has not yet been installed. Notably, a president who has been elected but not yet installed would be referred to as a ''president-elect'' (e.g. president-elect of the Un ...

Trump, Higbie said: "Steve Bannon has excelled in every single role he has held dating back to his service in the US Navy. I cannot imagine a better person to be advising an already successful businessman taking on the biggest business in the world, the US Government."

Television

Higbie started hosting ''Saturday Report'' on

Newsmax TV Newsmax TV is an American television channel owned by Newsmax described as conservative, right-wing, and far-right. The network primarily focuses on political opinion-based talk shows. It carries a news/talk format throughout the day and night ...

in 2020 and has also filled in as guest host for other Newsmax hosts. In 2022 he quit ''Saturday Report'' to host ''Wake Up America Weekend''. In April 2023 he got his own nightly show ''Carl Higbie Frontline'', replacing ''Spicer & Co.'' after

Sean Spicer Sean Michael Spicer (born September 23, 1971) is an American former political aide who served as the 30th White House Press Secretary and as White House Communications Director under President Donald Trump in 2017. Spicer was communications dire ...

's departure from Newsmax.

Controversy

Registry of Muslims

In an interview with

Megyn Kelly Megyn Marie Kelly (; born November 18, 1970) is an American journalist, attorney, political commentator, and media personality. She currently hosts ''The Megyn Kelly Show'', a talk show and podcast that airs daily on Sirius XM's Triumph channe ...

, Higbie cited the

internment of Japanese Americans United States home front during World War II, During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and Internment, incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese Americans, Japanese descent in ten #Terminology debate, concentration camps opera ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the associated

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

decision in ''

Korematsu v. United States ''Korematsu v. United States'', 323 U.S. 214 (1944), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that upheld the internment of Japanese Americans from the West Coast Military Area during World War II. The decision has been widely ...

'' as providing legal justification for Trump's campaign promise of a registry for Muslim Americans. Higbie repeated his comments on CNN to

Erin Burnett Erin Isabelle Burnett (born July 2, 1976) is an American news anchor, currently the anchor of ''Erin Burnett OutFront'' on CNN. She previously worked for CNBC as co-anchor of ''Squawk on the Street'' and the host of ''Street Signs (TV series), S ...

the following day. Kelly replied that Higbie "knows better" than to make such suggestions, as they scare people. Kelly met Higbie's further assertion that he was only noting "there was precedent for it" with the declaration: "You can't be citing Japanese internment camps for anything the President-elect is going to do." Trump's transition team later issued a statement to the ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'' that denied that Trump supported a Muslim registry, though he had made comments supporting such an idea in 2015.

George Takei George Takei ( ; born April20, 1937), born , is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS ''Enterprise'' in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. Takei was born to Japanese-American parents, with w ...

, who was detained in one of the World War II internment camps, described Higbie's comments as "dangerous" and went on to say that " gistration of any group of people, and certainly registration of Muslims, is a prelude to internment." Higbie's comments attracted media criticism, and Representative

Judy Chu Judy May Chu (born July 7, 1953) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for . A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she has held a seat in Congress since 2009, representing until redistricting. ...

(D–CA), the first Chinese American woman elected to the U.S. Congress, declared that " y proposal to force American Muslims to register with the federal government, and to use Japanese imprisonment during World War II as precedent, is abhorrent and has no place in our society. These ideas are based on tactics of fear, division, and hate that we must condemn." Constitutional lawyer

Bruce Fein Bruce Fein (born March 12, 1947) is an American lawyer who specializes in constitutional and international law. Fein has written numerous articles on constitutional issues for ''The Washington Times'', ''Slate.com'', ''The New York Times'', ''T ...

addressed Higbie's suggestion that ''Korematsu'' could be used to support a Muslim registry, describing the case as having "joined ''

Dred Scott Dred Scott ( – September 17, 1858) was an enslaved African American man who, along with his wife, Harriet, unsuccessfully sued for the freedom of themselves and their two daughters, Eliza and Lizzie, in the '' Dred Scott v. Sandford'' case ...

'' as an odious and discredited artifact of popular bigotry" even though it has never been overturned.

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Noah Feldman Noah Raam Feldman (born May 22, 1970) is an American legal scholar and academic. He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and chairman of the Harvard Society of Fellows. He is the author of 10 books, host of the podcas ...

concurred, declaring that "''Korematsu's'' uniquely bad legal status means it's not precedent even though it hasn't been overturned."

Corporation for National and Community Service resignation

In 2018, Higbie was forced to resign as the Chief of External Affairs for the

(an organization which runs

AmeriCorps AmeriCorps ( ; officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in ...

, Learn and Serve America,

Senior Corps AmeriCorps Seniors is a United States government program run by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The program engages volunteers aged 55 and older to serve their communities. There are over 200,000 volunteers nationwide. Ameri ...

, and other national service initiatives), a position to which Trump had appointed him. His ousting occurred after CNN discovered Higbie's racist and inflammatory remarks (on a 2013 radio talk show) about Black Americans, Muslims, women,

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

people, veterans suffering from

PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster, traffic collision, ...

, welfare recipients, and immigrants, which included suggesting withdrawing the right to vote from welfare recipients, and advocating free rein for all to go and shoot undocumented immigrants at the southern USA border. Higbie had also repeatedly stated his belief that Barack Obama is Muslim and not a U.S. citizen. In a 2018 tweet, Higbie apologized for his comments, though later that year he maintained his statements had been taken out of context.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higbie, Carl category:1983 births category:21st-century American male writers category:21st-century American non-fiction writers category:activists from Connecticut category:American conspiracy theorists category:American male non-fiction writers category:American military writers category:candidates in the 2014 United States elections category:Connecticut Republicans category:Greenwich High School alumni category:living people category:military personnel from Connecticut category:New York (state) Republicans category:Newsmax TV people category:people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder category:United States Navy personnel of the Iraq War category:United States Navy SEALs personnel category:writers from Greenwich, Connecticut