Anti-Trump Jewish Group Calls Gorka’s Removal ‘Just A Partial Victory’
By Aiden Pink May 1, 2017
News that controversial White House counterterrorism aide Sebastian Gorka may soon be reassigned outside the executive office of the White House was greeted by an anti-Trump Jewish group with muted optimism.
Gorka’s ties to Nazi-affiliated Hungarian groups (first reported in the Forward) as well as his “virulent anti-Muslim views and his lack of national security qualifications” meant that he had no place near the levers of power, Stosh Cotler, CEO of the nonprofit organization Bend the Arc, said in a statement on Monday. His removal “is a victory for all of us fighting for a White House free of racist, radical, far-right, antisemitic and white nationalist influence.”
However, Cotler added, “this is just a partial victory, and one that unfortunately demonstrates President Trump’s deep indebtedness to the white nationalist movement that powered his campaign.”
She blasted Trump for reassigning Gorka rather than firing him, and for retaining White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.
“Trump is trying to shift our focus off these men,” Cotler said. “We see what he’s doing and we do not accept it.”
Contact Aiden Pink at pink@forward.com or on Twitter at @aidenpink.
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