Image by Facebook

By Nathan Guttman March 16, 2017

Image by Facebook

“I’ve been a committed opponent of anti-Semitism, racism and totalitarianism all my life,” Gorka said in a brief written statement provided, after weeks of requests, to the Forward by the White House press office. “Any suggestion otherwise is false and outrageous.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The Forward report did not allege Gorka was anti-Semitic, but rather showed, based on interviews with two senior members of Vitezi Rend, that Gorka had taken a lifelong oath of loyalty to the group.

In his response, Gorka did not deny or confirm being a member of Vitezi Rend.

Furthermore, Gorka did not say whether he reported his membership to American immigration authorities upon seeking U.S. citizenship. A State Department manual states that members of Vitezi Rend are “presumed to be inadmissible” to the country.

Gorka ended his statement by thanking the president for offering him the opportunity to join the White House team, where he serves as his deputy assistant and is in charge of counter-terrorism. “I am grateful to President Trump and his team for giving me the opportunity to serve and keep America safe against today’s totalitarians.”

Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount