Fortune Magazine Should Nix Speaking Gig for Kirstjen Nielsen

Despite history of caging migrant children, Fortune invited Trump’s former Homeland Security secretary to give “practical advice” at conference

WASHINGTON – Following The Atlantic Festival’s lead last month, Fortune Magazine has offered former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen a spot to speak at its annual leadership conference, the FORTUNE Most Powerful Women (MPW) Summit 2019. In response, Restore Public Trust released a statement calling on the publication to reconsider its invitation to Nielsen, who helped execute Trump’s cruel and inhumane child separation policy:

“Kirstjen Nielsen does not deserve to have a platform at Fortune’s MPW Summit,” said Karl Frisch, senior adviser to Restore Public Trust. “Nielsen helped carry out Trump’s horrific family separation policy. On Nielsen’s watch, children taken from their families were abused and sexually assaulted. Some even died. Fortune should not be giving Nielsen, or others like her, a platform to rehabilitate her appropriately damaged reputation.”

Frisch continued, “The American public made it clear that they did not want to see Nielsen at The Atlantic Festival last month. After helping to put migrant kids in cages during her tenure with the Trump administration, Nielsen’s ability to offer ‘practical advice’ to attendees at this conference is questionable at best.”

In addition, Restore Public Trust is urging allies to #SayNoToNielsen on social media. The FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Summit is a three-day event that hosts “preeminent women” across a number of industries “for wide-ranging conversations that inspire and deliver practical advice.” Last month, following widespread public backlash, Nielsen’s team told The Atlantic Festival that she was “no longer able to participate.”

Tuesday, Trump appointed Nielsen to a role on the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee.

To learn more about the officials who helped execute Trump’s heinous family separation policy — and why they shouldn’t be given cushy landings after leaving his administration — visit TrumpAdminSeparation.org

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