A campaign staff member who shared racist posts on Facebook while working for Donald Trump is to join the US Department of Education.

Teresa Unrue worked as a graphic designer for Mr Trump’s South Carolina team and will form part of a new administration team overseeing education across the United States.

In August last year, Ms Unrue reportedly published a series of Facebook posts and videos with derogatory comments about black, Mexican and Muslim people.

One video showed a black man eating fried chicken and contained criticism of black men. In another post, Ms Unrue claimed America “needs Islam control, not gun control”, and accused then-President Barack Obama of being a “terrorist”.

Ms Unrue also linked to a website that alleged the US government assassinated the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last year of a heart attack.

A selection of Facebook posts shared by Teresa Unrue last year (AP)

The graphic designer was not reprimanded for her actions and did not lose her job after the posts were reported. Her Facebook account has since been deleted.

Acting education secretary Phil Rosenfelt sent an email to staff, seen by The Huffington Post, in which he announced the wave of new appointments, including people from “varied backgrounds in policy, communications and finance”.

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In August 2015, Mr Trump's presidential campaign announced it had fired a member of staff, Sam Nunberg, who had allegedly made racist Facebook posts.