Several of Donald Trump’s hires at the Education Department have used Twitter and Facebook to share their unfiltered opinions about African-Americans, transgender people and “fat chicks,” a POLITICO review of social media accounts shows.

Derrick Bolen, a former campaign worker, once tweeted: “Walking to class and this black girl goes shout out to all my niggas #ImWhite.”


Teresa UnRue, a former field organizer for the Trump campaign, shared a video on Facebook of an African-American man eating fried chicken and wondering aloud why other African-Americans are mad about slavery when “Y'all weren't no damn slaves."

"Had me crack'n up!! Thank you!" UnRue wrote.

A third hire and former campaign worker, Kevin Eck, tweeted about an all-black cast for “The Wiz Live!” on NBC. “There sure would be quite an uproar if it was an all-white cast.” He later posted his apology.

The social media posts and histories of these workers have prompted questions about how thoroughly the Trump administration is vetting political appointees as it races to stand up a new government. To date, it has filled only a tiny percentage of the jobs that require Senate confirmation and named even fewer of the nearly 4,000 political appointees spread throughout the federal government — an estimated 150 of whom are in education. Until those appointees are on board, the fledgling administration is hamstrung in its ability to carry out the president’s vision. Moving too quickly, though, can bring its own problems.

The names of the Education Department workers were on a list of new hires circulated last week inside the agency and obtained by POLITICO.

At least one — UnRue, a graphic designer from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, who once told a reporter she would "take a bullet" for Trump — has already disappeared from an updated list, which was also obtained by POLITICO. UnRue's Facebook and Twitter accounts appear to have been deleted after her name disappeared from the list of new hires.

Besides her comments about the fried chicken video, UnRue had shared a statement, “We need Islam control, not gun control." She also had linked to a website that alleged the U.S. government assassinated Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last year, The Associated Press first reported.

A department spokesman said that education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos would not condone what he described as “unacceptable” behaviors.

“Secretary-designate DeVos is working with the White House to address issues that were brought to her attention involving social media posts and other behavior that is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by her or President Trump,” said Jason Botel, new senior White House adviser for education. “They are committed to having the right people at the Department to serve our nation's students.”

Botel said that DeVos, if confirmed, “will take expedient action to discipline any employees who are engaged in inappropriate and unacceptable activities."

POLITICO compiled social media histories and prior media coverage of several employees by matching up new employees’ names and photos against publicly available Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts. Photos were used to try to confirm the employees’ identities, and two of the three were reached by telephone, although none agreed to be interviewed.

Eck, the former director of operations for the Indiana Public Charter Schools Association, created a Twitter mini-storm in late 2015 when he tweeted about the all-black cast of "The Wiz."

After being informed by critics that the musical retells “The Wizard of Oz” from a modern-day African-American perspective, he apologized in his Twitter profile, saying the tweet was “ignorant” and “I am now informed.”

Last year, Eck also tweeted about a Fox News article discussing a McDonald’s ad that featured a “gay son coming out.” Eck tweeted, “hey @McDonalds stick 2 making ur shitty, salty food.”

He also tweeted opposition to transgender individuals being permitted to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity — a right that Barack Obama’s Education Department enforced under civil rights law that bars sex-based discrimination in federally funded programs.

“Women should have the right to use a public restroom w/o an adult w/ a penis also being in that restroom. This isn’t complicated,” he tweeted on March 27 last year.

When reached by phone and asked about his position at the Education Department and his social media posts, Eck said he had been instructed not to speak to the press.

Bolen, a recent Liberty University graduate, is among the youngest of the new education hires. A former Trump campaign regional field director for Virginia’s Roanoke and New River Valley region, he has tweeted numerous statements that could be considered insensitive to African-Americans and women.

Bolen tweeted on April 5, 2012, that it isn't attractive when “fat chicks” wear leggings.

He posted: “All black men smoke weed #SaidTheBlackManInClass,” on March 19, 2013.

On Sept. 15, 2013, he shared that a Virginia beauty pageant contestant “looks like a man.”

On Wednesday, Bolen posted a picture of himself, in a suit, on Instagram. He was standing in front of an American flag at the Education Department headquarters. “This is only the beginning of a new chapter in life,” he wrote.

Bolen could not be reached by telephone and did not respond to emails sent to three addresses, including his new Education Department email.

But the vetting of political appointees involves more than just social media accounts. A Google search of the name of another Education Department hire, Beatriz Ramos, shows that she was previously at the center of an alleged sex scandal involving Florida’s former lieutenant governor.

Ramos, who worked as Florida’s “coalitions director” for the Trump campaign, was the subject of numerous news reports four years ago when she worked as an aide to former Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll.

In 2012, a former staffer to Carroll alleged in court filings that she had been fired after catching Ramos with the lieutenant governor in a “compromising position.” At the time, Carroll denied that she was having an extramarital affair with Ramos, calling the accusation “false and absurd.”

When contacted by POLITICO, Ramos asked for a reporter’s information and said, “I’ll have someone call you back.” It is unclear what role Ramos will have at the Education Department.

Kimberly Hefling, Bill Kuchman and Michael Stratford contributed to this report.