TL;DR

• Two former senior Biden-era State Department officials warn that Trump nominee Jeremy Carl is unfit and dangerous.
• Carl has promoted the racist “Great Replacement” theory and extremist anti-trans rhetoric.
• If confirmed, he would lead U.S. engagement with the UN — a role with enormous influence over global human rights policy.
• Officials fear he could strip or block protections for LGBTQ people and marginalized groups internationally.
• Senate Democrats, including Chuck Schumer, already oppose the nomination.

A Low-Profile Job With High-Stakes Power

The average American may not know what the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations does — but according to two former U.S. officials, the role is one of the most influential positions in shaping global human rights policy. And they say Donald Trump’s pick, Jeremy Carl, is the worst possible person to hold it.

Desirée Cormier Smith, former State Department special representative for racial equity and justice, and Jessica Stern, former U.S. special envoy for LGBTQI+ human rights, warn that Carl’s extremist public record makes him a threat not just to diplomacy, but to the safety of vulnerable communities worldwide.

Smith was blunt:
“He would be the senior-most diplomat under the Secretary of State responsible for our engagement with the United Nations.”
That means: global treaties, human rights resolutions, refugee protections, LGBTQ rights, racial justice — all under Carl’s influence.

A Record Steeped in Racism, Extremism, and Anti-Trans Rhetoric

Carl isn’t just controversial; his statements read like a greatest-hits playlist of far-right conspiracy theories.

He has:

• Promoted the white nationalist “Great Replacement” conspiracy.
• Referred to Juneteenth as a “race hustling” holiday.
• Claimed schools and institutions promoting diversity are “anti-white” and should be “destroyed.”
• Called Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson “unqualified,” claiming she was chosen “solely because of her race and gender.”
• Compared January 6 defendants to Black Americans living under Jim Crow.
• Urged the execution of a prominent labor leader.
• Attempted to delete thousands of tweets before his confirmation hearing.

And he has aggressively targeted LGBTQ people, with Stern emphasizing:
“He has gone so far as to say there are no transgender kids and that ‘transgenderism’ is a spiritual violation.”

This isn’t fringe commentary — this is hostility welded to policy ambition.

A Threat to the UN’s Human Rights Framework — Especially for LGBTQ+ People

Stern warns the consequences are global:
“At the world stage, he would strip protections from transgender people and potentially target them.”

Her concerns are grounded in recent actions: the Trump administration already intervened at the UN to remove sexual orientation and gender identity language from a disability rights resolution — working alongside “some of the most homophobic and transphobic states in the world,” she said.

If Carl is confirmed, Stern fears the U.S. will actively help authoritarian regimes erase protections for LGBTQ people, refugees, and racial minorities.

“The UN is a place of refuge for people who are desperate,” Stern said. “Jeremy Carl wants to destroy that refuge.”

In more than 60 countries with sodomy laws — and others criminalizing gender expression — the UN may be the only route to justice. Stripping that away would be devastating.

A Diplomatic Disaster in the Making

Smith warns Carl’s racist rhetoric makes him fundamentally unfit to represent the U.S. on the world stage. How could someone promoting white nationalist conspiracy theories credibly negotiate with nations overwhelmingly composed of people of color?

She argues senators must confront Carl directly about his deleted tweets and extremist statements.

“Just use his own words,” she urged.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took to the floor urging Congress to reject the nomination, citing Carl’s antisemitic comments, distortions of Holocaust history, and lack of basic fitness.

A Pattern of Appointing Ideologues, Not Experts

Smith says Carl’s nomination fits a broader Trump-era pattern: reward loyalty and extremist ideology over competence and experience.

She warns that populating foreign policy leadership with partisan ideologues guarantees “U.S. obsolescence.” Human rights advocates abroad echo this concern, telling her:
“We used to believe in the United States, and now we feel betrayed.”

This, she says, is the world America is walking toward if Carl is confirmed.

Impact on the LGBTQ Community

This nomination represents more than personnel politics — it signals how aggressively the Trump administration intends to reshape global LGBTQ protections. With someone who denies the existence of trans children overseeing America’s UN engagement, international safeguards could unravel quickly.

For LGBTQ people worldwide — especially in countries where queerness is criminalized — the UN isn’t symbolic. It’s a lifeline. It offers mechanisms for asylum, documentation, and international pressure that can literally save lives.

If the U.S. abandons or sabotages those structures, queer people around the world lose one of their few sources of protection, visibility, and recourse.

And that is exactly why former diplomats are sounding the alarm.