Secretary of State Marco Rubio has hired Nate Hochman, a former speechwriter for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, to a senior position within the State Department, despite Hochman's 2023 dismissal for resharing a video containing a neo-Nazi symbol. Hochman currently serves as the deputy director of the agency’s policy planning office and as chief speech writer for Rubio.
Hochman was dismissed from DeSantis' presidential campaign in 2023 after resharing a video that featured a symbol known as the Sonnenrad, or black sun, which the Anti-Defamation League categorizes as a white supremacist emblem. The video depicted a meme of a Trump supporter being cheered by headlines about DeSantis' policies, concluding with the Florida state seal morphing into the Sonnenrad. Hochman denied creating the video but was among the first prominent DeSantis accounts to share it. He subsequently deleted the repost and stated he had alerted his superiors upon learning the symbol's meaning. The incident led to his termination.
At the time of his dismissal, Hochman also engaged in an online conversation with white nationalist influencer Nick Fuentes, telling him, "You've gotten a lot of kids based, and we respect that for sure." In audio published by The Dispatch, Hochman warned Fuentes that his "super edgy" remarks had imposed "a pretty strong ceiling" on his political potential while asserting Fuentes had no place in the conservative movement. Hochman later explained he was attempting to draw Fuentes out and that he had made "stupid things" he did not believe.
Despite the controversy, Hochman returned to politics, working for the conservative group America 2100 and as a policy advisor for Senator Eric Schmitt before joining the State Department. He initially entered the conservative movement as a fellow for the Claremont Institute and a writer for National Review.
The State Department has defended its decision to employ Hochman. "Nate Hochman is a trusted and key member of the department who has worked tirelessly to advance the president's foreign policy agenda," a spokesman told the New York Times.