JTA — Kingsley Wilson, a US Department of Defense official who has repeatedly echoed antisemitic rhetoric online, will serve as the Pentagon’s new press secretary, according to an announcement Friday.
“Kingsley’s leadership has been integral to the DoD’s success & we look forward to her continued service to President Trump!,” said Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesman and a senior advisor to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a post on X Friday.
Wilson reposted the announcement to her X account, writing that she was, “Honored to serve President Trump and our warfighters.”
Wilson was appointed in January as deputy press secretary at the Pentagon and faced backlash from the Anti-Defamation League as well as several senators for a history of promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories. Last year, Wilson tweeted a neo-Nazi talking point about Jewish lynching victim Leo Frank, whose murder spurred the ADL’s creation.
The American Jewish Committee called for her removal in a post on X in March.
“Anyone who posts antisemitic conspiracy theories lifted right out of the neo-Nazi playbook should not be in public office,” the post read. “Kingsley Wilson, newly appointed @DepPressSecDOD, is clearly unfit for her role.”
The Office of the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs is announcing that Kingsley Wilson will serve as Press Secretary for the Department of Defense.
Kingsley’s leadership has been integral to the DoD’s success & we look forward to her continued service to President Trump!…— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellATSD) May 23, 2025
She has also tweeted several times in support of the “Great Replacement” theory, whose original version contends that Jews are orchestrating the replacement of majority-white nations with immigrants of color.
The Jewish Democratic Council of America also condemned the appointment in a post on Bluesky, writing, “Antisemitism has no place in government. This administration is infested with antisemitism.”
The US Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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