Former DeSantis Aide Nate Hochman Returns as Rubio's Chief Speechwriter

Marco Rubio has brought back Nate Hochman, a former speechwriter who was previously fired from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's team in 2023. The reason for that dismissal? A video he shared online that featured a symbol embraced by white supremacists. Now, the man once known as Secretary of State Rubio's mystery wordsmith is back inside the White House sphere, penning US foreign policy as deputy director of the agency's policy planning office and chief speech writer.

This move comes after Hochman was running DeSantis's presidential campaign to challenge Donald Trump in 2024. During that time, he also joined an online chat with white nationalist Nick Fuentes. In the conversation, which audio clips were published by The Dispatch, Hochman told Fuentes: 'You've gotten a lot of kids based, and we respect that for sure.' He then warned the influencer that his edgy remarks had hit a ceiling on what they could achieve politically.

Hochman later admitted he tried to draw Fuentes out. 'I said some really stupid things, which I don't actually believe,' he confessed. 'That signaled agreement with Fuentes, even though I couldn't disagree more with his vision of the world.' Despite this messy past, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott defended the hiring. 'Nate Hochman is a trusted and key member of the department who has worked tirelessly to advance the president's foreign policy agenda,' Pigott told the New York Times.

The controversy started in 2023 when Hochman reshared a video showing a demoralized Trump-supporting meme figure being cheered up by headlines about DeSantis cracking down on illegal immigration and so-called woke activists. The clip ended with the Florida state seal morphing into a Sonnenrad, or black sun, a design the Anti-Defamation League catalogs as a neo-Nazi emblem. Hochman denied creating the video but was among the first prominent DeSantis accounts to spread it. He deleted his repost once he realized what the symbol meant and claimed to have alerted superiors. The coverage still cost him his job. A New Republic article later revealed that campaign insiders likely created and planted the video in a fan account, yet Hochman took the blame.

Now working as a senior aide for Rubio, Hochman previously authored a front page article for the New York Times Sunday Review before taking on the DeSantis role. He found his way back into politics through groups like America 2100 and served as a policy advisor for Missouri Republican Senator Eric Schmitt. His career began with fellowships at the Claremont Institute and writing for the National Review. The State Department stands by him, but the public question remains: is it right to hire someone who once defended white nationalist rhetoric?