BREAKING: Gorka Storms Out Of Georgetown Conference After Student Questions
Goodbye Gorka: Silent protests and pointed questions from Georgetown University students spurred White House counterterrorism adviser Sebastian Gorka to leave a panel discussion 20 minutes early. Image by @thehoya
By Aiden Pink April 24, 2017
Sebastian Gorka, President Trump’s top counterterrorism aide, stormed out of a panel discussion on cybersecurity and “fake news” at Georgetown University on Monday after some students silently protested him and others asked him pointed questions.
Gorka, a former adjunct professor at Georgetown, has come under heavy criticism in recent months for his longstanding ties to the far-right and formerly Nazi-allied Hungarian group Vitézi Rend.
“Every single person holding a placard challenging my parents and myself, I challenge you to go away…find one sentence I wrote that is anti-Semitic or anti-Israel,” he told the crowd, adding that they were the victims of “fake news.”
Gorka also refused to answer a student’s question as to whether he spoke Arabic, which presumably would be a prerequisite for a counterterrorism advisor.
@meghanarchy @aravosis @jared_stancombe And video part 2 pic.twitter.com/kovmImGvrj
— Roey (@roeyhadar) April 24, 2017
After five pointed questions from students, and with 20 scheduled minutes to go in the discussion, Gorka abruptly left the room, stating that other panelists ought to be heard.
Contact Aiden Pink at pink@forward.com or on Twitter, @aidenpink.
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