Far-right activist with history of anti-gay comments fired from leadership role at Kennedy Center after CNN investigation

CNN

5 days ago

Floyd Brown, a far-right political activist with a history of anti-gay rhetoric and promoting conspiracy theories about former President Barack Obama, said he was fired from a senior leadership role he briefly held at the Kennedy Center — just hours after CNN reached out with questions about his past statements.
Brown's past statements include calling homosexuality 'a punishment' upon America and condemning the legality of gay sex. He has also falsely claimed that Obama is Muslim and promoted conspiracy theories about his birth documents.
Brown briefly served as a Vice President of Development, a top fundraising role responsible for helping raise tens of millions of dollars annually in support of the nation's most prominent performing arts center.
His appointment, which had not been formally announced by the Kennedy Center, had sparked internal concern among some staffers, according to sources. It was the latest change to the Kennedy Center since President Donald Trump was installed as the new chair in February and overhauled the board.
In an email to CNN on Wednesday, Brown said it was an 'honor' to work at the Kennedy Center. He defended his remarks as rooted in his Christian faith and said they did not influence his professional conduct. 'It was truly not my intention to offend anyone with my comments,' he wrote.
Later on Thursday morning, Brown posted a lengthy note on X explaining his dismissal and criticizing Richard Grenell, the Kennedy Center's interim president, who is gay. Brown claimed in an email he was asked to 'recant' his belief that marriage is only between a man and a woman.
'I refused to recant and was shown the door,' Brown wrote. 'He preemptively fired me for my Christian beliefs on marriage,' Brown wrote in reference to Grenell.
Brown's statement did not address his past comments on Obama. Grenell did not respond to a request for comment from CNN. A source familiar with the Kennedy Center confirmed to CNN that Brown is no longer there and said that Grenell had not met with Brown, did not know him, and was not involved in his hiring.
Brown's new role was listed on his LinkedIn page and his appointment had been confirmed by several sources involved with the Kennedy Center. A long-time political consultant, Brown helped found Citizens United, a conservative non-profit best known for successfully challenging campaign finance laws. He was also executive director of Young America's Foundation, a non-profit that supports conservative college students.
He is perhaps best known for his involvement in helping produce the racially charged Willie Horton ad from the 1988 presidential campaign, which is seen as among the most effective and infamous political attack ads of all time.
It's unclear what led to Brown's hiring, but sources told CNN he reported to Lisa Dale, the Development Department's senior vice president. Brown, like Dale, was an advisor to former Arizona Republican candidate Kari Lake.
Sources told CNN Brown worked at the Kennedy Center for a month and that donors and staff had expressed concern over him bringing in traditional political donors at the expense of the center's more frequent and core donor base.
Brown told CNN that his past comments did not affect his work.
'As a Christian, I am called to work with others of different beliefs and worldviews,' Brown said. 'It was truly not my intention to offend anyone with my comments. I have never intended to attack or demean any person in my statements, and have always shared the mission of Jesus, striving to love others unconditionally.'
Brown's history of anti-gay commentary stretches back years.
As a commentator Brown once attacked CPAC for 'an acceptance of the open promotion of the gay lifestyle inside the tent of conservatism,' called same-sex marriage both 'godless' and a 'hoax,' and posted cartoons on his personal website that attack the 'queer military.'
In 2008, his website attacked Obama for saying homosexuality was not a choice and not believing that homosexuality was 'immoral.'
Speaking at a Christian event in 2023, Brown discussed his time working as a staffer on Capitol Hill, and referenced what he said was 'the dirty little secret' of gay staffers working for Republican lawmakers. Brown said that unlike himself, with a wife and children at home, gay congressional staff lacked family responsibilities outside the office, allowing them to focus entirely on work.
'They literally worked for the member 24/7 and then went out to Adams Morgan and had their gay sex, and then came back to work the next day,' said Brown
Brown later attacked George W. Bush for appointing Ken Mehlman, who later came out as gay, as chairman of the Republican National Committee. Brown said Mehlman 'systematically filled it with homosexual staff. And that's why we never make any progress on family issues.'
A syndicated 2011 column from Brown lamented that homosexual intercourse is now legal.
'It was not until the teachings of Christ and Saint Paul conquered Rome and Western Europe that sodomy was outlawed,' Brown wrote in a column with his wife. 'But alas much has changed. Now sodomy is once again legal, and some states believe these acts deserve celebration in the most public of ceremonies, the wedding.'
'Homosexuality is a punishment that comes upon a nation that has rejected God,' Floyd said in 2023 on conservative talk radio. 'They're debasing themselves and their humanity.'
As the founder of ExposeObama.com, ImpeachObamaCampaign.com, FloydReports.com and the far-right website Western Journal in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Brown often shared inflammatory misinformation about Obama, including photoshopped images depicting him with a long beard and turban similar to a photo of Osama bin Laden.
'As the son of a Muslim father, Obama is a Muslim, period,' read a 2010 post on his blog attributed to by Brown and his wife, under the crude picture of Obama with the turban and beard. In 2008, Brown wrote on his personal website that he was 'vindicated' in insisting that Obama was a Muslim.
In 2008, Brown gained national recognition for raising money for a TV ad – 'Was he Muslim?' – that questioned if Barack Obama was formerly a Muslim as a child. Another ad on Brown's personal YouTube page features a video 'intended for Barack Hussein Obama' with an Islamic call to prayer and a link to his website 'ExposeObama.com,' accusing Obama of lying about being a Muslim.
'Are you embarrassed that you once followed Muhammed,' the ad asks.
The website appears to have launched in 2008 according to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine and included tags for articles like 'Muslim Roots.' A defunct, but still online X account for the website shows links to numerous articles questioning if Obama was Muslim or a natural born citizen. One post on his website cited birth conspiracy theorist Joe Arpaio saying that Obama's birth certificate 'fraud' was '10 times worse than Watergate.'
Archived results searchable on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine similarly show scores of articles by Brown questioning Obama's birthplace and religion. Brown has even raised that Obama might not be a citizen, even if he was born in the United States. In 2009, Brown argued on the radio that Obama had not proven he was a citizen.
'He has not proven to me definitively that he was born in the United States,' Brown said in 2009.
In 2009, Brown also claimed Obama 'changed his story' around being Muslim in his syndicated column.
That same year, Brown promoted plans to impeach Obama just months into his new term citing claims that Obama was not a natural born citizen – saying on the radio his goal was a half a million people for a petition to impeach Obama on ImpeachObamaCampaign.com. The website was a project of the Policy Issues Institute, a non-profit group where Brown served as president as late as 2023 and paid him nearly $500,000 that year in compensation, according to public records.
One of the website's so-called articles of impeachment said that Obama, 'unlawfully engaged in a conspiracy to suppress evidence of the true place of his birth,' which violated, 'the Constitutional provision that a President of the United States must be a natural born citizen.'
In February Trump dismissed 18 Kennedy Center board members appointed by President Joe Biden and appointed 14 new ones, most of whom are his close allies. The newly appointed board then elected Trump as the new chair of the Kennedy Center and voted to terminate Deborah Rutter as president – appointing Grenell as interim president.
Trump has said he wants to have the Kennedy Center's programming align with a new vision for American arts and culture – which he has criticized as overwhelmingly liberal and out of touch.
'I want to make sure it runs properly,' Trump said in February. 'We don't need woke at the Kennedy Center, and we don't need — some of the shows were terrible. They were a disgrace that they were even put on.'
The changes have sparked backlash from the arts community, leading to cancellations from some high-profile performances.
The Kennedy Center's Development Department raises tens of millions annually through donations, sponsorships, and fundraising events to support its performances and arts education programs. It manages relationships with individual, corporate, foundation and government donors to sustain the institution's mission and operations.
The Center usually receives around $43 million in federal funding each year, which helps cover costs related to operating, maintaining and repairing the facility. This amount represents approximately 16% of its total annual budget of $268 million, according to the New York Times.
The House Republican budget passed last week allocates nearly $257 million to the Kennedy Center, a substantial increase, signaling Trump's desire to reshape the institution with both influence and government investment.