Democratic presidential candidate, and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the unrest across the country from Philadelphia City Hall on June 2, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, contrasting his leadership style with that of US President Donald Trump, and calling George Floyds death a wake-up call for our nation. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Washington CNN  — 

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said this week that two recent Trump administration appointees to the Pentagon and US Agency for International Development “have no business serving in high positions in our government” because of past Islamophobic and offensive comments on social media.

“In Washington, ‘personnel is policy.’ Yet, President Trump continually chooses individuals for key roles – most recently at two national security agencies – who espouse beliefs contrary to our most deeply held American values,” Biden said in a statement Tuesday.

“Islam is a faith of peace, and Muslims are a vital part of American history and society. Islamophobia is a pernicious disease. It does not belong in the halls of government,” Biden’s statement reads. “As President, I will appoint individuals who represent the values of our nation and respect all racial, ethnic and religious communities.”

Retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, who was nominated to become the under secretary of defense for policy, has a history of making Islamophobic and inflammatory remarks against prominent Democratic politicians, CNN’s KFile reported in June. Tata is a frequent guest on Fox News and ardent defender of President Donald Trump.

In several tweets from 2018, Tata said that Islam was the “most oppressive violent religion I know of” and claimed former President Barack Obama was a “terrorist leader” who did more to harm the US “and help Islamic countries than any president in history.” Following the publication of KFile’s initial story, Tata deleted several of his tweets, screenshots of which were captured by KFile. In one radio appearance, Tata also speculated that the Iran deal was born out of Obama’s “Islamic roots” in an attempt “to help Iranians and the greater Islamic state crush Israel.”

Tata also spread conspiracy theories that former CIA director John Brennan tried to overthrow Trump and even have him assassinated.

If confirmed by the Senate, Tata would become the third highest official in the Pentagon overseeing the Defense Department’s policy shop, including its national security and defense strategy, nuclear deterrence and missile defense policy, and security cooperation plans and policies.

CNN obtained a letter Tata sent to the top members of the Senate Armed Services Committee apologizing for his past Islamophobic tweets.

“I deeply regret comments I made on social media several years ago,” he wrote, adding that his “tweets were completely out of character.”

The White House has stood by Tata.

“Anthony Tata, the President’s exceptionally qualified nominee for Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, is a distinguished public servant whose career has provided him with planning, policy, and operational experience both at home and abroad,” White House spokesman Judd Deere told CNN in an email. “His education, background, and record has earned him bi-partisan praise, and this attempt by the media to slander his reputation is disgusting. The White House stands by the President’s qualified nominee.”

Mark Kevin Lloyd, who was appointed to be a religious freedom adviser to USAID, shared a post in June 2016 calling Islam “a barbaric cult,” according to a 2016 Associated Press report. Lloyd also perpetuated a conspiracy theory and said Obama was aiding the Iranian nuclear program as part of his ” ‘final solution’ to the Israel problem,” a phrase that evoked the Holocaust, AP reported. Lloyd declined to talk to AP at the time, citing his nondisclosure agreement with the Trump campaign. He was working as a Virginia field director for the Trump presidential campaign at the time.

On Monday, several Democrats in the House of Representatives sent a letter to USAID urging the agency to rescind its appointment of Lloyd.

“Far from an isolated incident of poor judgement, Mr. Lloyd’s behavior openly and frequently displays his contempt for a religion that counts nearly two billion followers, and constitutes the second largest religion in the world,” the letter reads. It was signed by the first two Muslim women in Congress, Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, as well as Reps. Joaquin Castro of Texas, Adriano Espaillat of New York, David Trone of Maryland and Al Green of Texas.

“He does not represent the values of our country, and he should not be in a position to betray our nation’s constitutional promise of religious freedom,” the letter reads.

CNN’s Em Steck, Andrew Kaczynski and Nathan McDermott contributed to this report.