As an official White House representative, he repeatedly made false and unfounded statements.
A bright conservative polemicist against immigrants, one of the key architects of White House policy. Stephen Miller has become one of the most influential figures in the Trump administration — and a lightning rod.
Posters featuring Miller with the caption "Fascism is an ugly thing" have appeared in many public places in Washington. Democrats are calling for his resignation. Even some of his fellow party members question his political instincts and effectiveness.
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For a long time, Miller was more of a behind-the-scenes player, but in recent weeks he has found himself in an unfamiliar spotlight, with all his words and actions being closely scrutinized. He had to step back — at least temporarily — from his preferred method of provoking conflict.
Miller was born on August 23, 1985, in Santa Monica, California, where he grew up as the second of three children in a Jewish family of Michael D. Miller, a real estate investor, and Miriam (née Glosser). His maternal ancestors — Wolf Lib Glotzer and his wife Bessie — emigrated to the United States from Antopol in the Russian Empire, in present-day Belarus, arriving in New York on January 7, 1903, on the German ship SS Moltke, thus escaping the anti-Jewish pogroms of 1903–1906. When his great-grandmother arrived in the U.S. in 1906, she spoke only Yiddish, the historical language of Ashkenazi Jews in Eastern Europe.
He held the positions of Senior Policy Advisor and Director of Speechwriting in the White House under President Donald Trump. His policies are characterized as far-right and anti-immigration. Previously, he was the Communications Director for then-Senator Jeff Sessions. He also worked as a press secretary for U.S. Representatives Michele Bachmann and John Shadegg.
As Trump’s speechwriter, Miller assisted in writing his inaugural address. He was a key advisor from the early days of Trump’s presidency. A hardliner on immigration, Miller was the chief architect of Trump’s travel bans, the administration's reduction of the number of refugees admitted to the U.S., and Trump’s policy of separating immigrant children from their parents. He also obstructed the publication of internal administration research that showed refugees have a net positive effect on state revenues. Reports indicate that Miller played a central role in the April 2019 resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, whom he believed was not aggressive enough on immigration issues.
As an official White House representative, he repeatedly made false and unfounded statements about widespread election fraud. Leaked emails from November 2019 showed that Miller promoted articles from white nationalist publications VDARE and American Renaissance and supported conspiracy theories. Miller is listed as an extremist by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Miller married Katie Waldman, a colleague from the administration, on February 16, 2020. They have a daughter born on November 19, 2020, and in February 2022, they announced the birth of a son. On October 6, 2020, he announced that he tested positive for COVID-19. He was among several White House staffers affected by the outbreak.
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