WASHINGTON – Bend the Arc: Jewish Action released the following statement on Wednesday in response to Sebastian Gorka’s appointment to the National Security Education Board:
“President Trump’s decision to rehire Sebastian Gorka, who holds close ties to white nationalist and antisemitic groups is yet another slap in the face to Jewish Americans,” said Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action. “White nationalists and their allies should have no place in our government.”
Gorka was ousted from his former position as Trump’s deputy assistant in 2017 after widespread criticism of his white supremacist ties:
- Gorka has been widely criticized for his ties to Vitézi Rend, a far-right and antisemitic Hungarian group that collaborated with the Nazis. Gorka denies being a sworn member of the group, but he attended the 2017 Inaugural Ball wearing a Vitézi Rend medal — one he had been photographed wearing in the past.
- Vitézi Rend’s leaders claim Gorka swore an oath of allegiance to the group, in which he promised he had “never betrayed my Hungarianness” and would follow the group’s orders “for the rest of my life.”
- In 1998, Gorka served as an advisor to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has his own documented history of antisemitism.
- In 2007, Gorka co-founded a far-right political party in Hungary with known antisemites.
- In 2007, Gorka appeared on Hungarian television endorsing the Hungarian Guard, a militia condemned by the European Court of Justice for attempting to found an “essentially racist” political order.
- Around the same time, Gorka wrote several op-eds for Magyar Demokrata, a paper notable for publishing antisemitic articles.
- In 2016, Gorka was fired by the FBI for making Islamophobic comments including calling Osama bin Laden “the Martin Luther of Islam.”
“Gorka’s reappointment continues a pattern of shameful behavior by Trump and his allies of claiming to defend Jewish people from antisemitism while actively putting our lives in danger,” said Cotler. “From enabling a growing white nationalist movement, to governing with an agenda rooted in bigotry, to popularizing dangerous conspiracy theories, Trump and Gorka are spreading fear and division that leads to violence and harassment targeting Jews, Muslims, immigrants, Asian American Pacific Islanders, and all people of color.”
That’s why Bend the Arc: Jewish Action launched the resource www.howtofightantisemitism.com to track the spread of antisemitism and conspiracies from far-right extremists who have taken over the GOP. Sadly, new examples are posted on the website almost every week.
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Common Dreams | Radio Free (2020-07-15T23:17:42+00:00) Trump's Reappointment of Sebastian Gorka “A Slap in the Face to Jewish Americans”. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/07/15/trumps-reappointment-of-sebastian-gorka-a-slap-in-the-face-to-jewish-americans/
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