The decision to speak out publicly about the controversy at the Miller Center — a place I have cherished for more than a decade — has been a difficult one. But as this has grown into a national story, I wanted to make my views clear. /1https://t.co/nQwTcvAKIz

— Nicole Hemmer (@pastpunditry) July 20, 2018

I want to add to my comments to the Chronicle, because several partisan groups have been keen to position the opposition to the MC's decision to hire Trump official Marc Short as an issue of left vs. right or conservative vs. liberal. That’s exactly wrong. /2

— Nicole Hemmer (@pastpunditry) July 20, 2018

It should, then, be a worrisome sign to those who would dismiss this controversy as a matter of mere partisanship that so many people who thrive in such an environment see Short's hiring as a genuine institutional and moral crisis. /4

— Nicole Hemmer (@pastpunditry) July 20, 2018

As political historians and presidential scholars, we at the Miller Center are well placed to observe that the Trump administration represents a significant rupture in American politics, a rejection of modern liberal democracy. /6

— Nicole Hemmer (@pastpunditry) July 20, 2018

Hiring a high-level administration official fresh from the White House does far more to validate and normalize that illiberalism than it does to help us understand it. /9

— Nicole Hemmer (@pastpunditry) July 20, 2018

I thus stand with the sentiments in this petition, which I have signed and encourage you to sign as well, if you agree and are a member of the UVA community: https://t.co/Oywy0qPoVf 11/11

— Nicole Hemmer (@pastpunditry) July 20, 2018