Sebastian Gorka’s PhD Adviser Says He’s No ‘Expert’ On Terrorism

Image by Getty Images

By Dave Goldiner August 20, 2017

Sebastian Gorka may be an effective “bulldog” for President Trump — but he’s no expert on terrorism. So says the controversial White House anti-terror aide’s own PhD adviser, according to CNN

“I would not call him an expert on terrorism,” said Stephen Sloan, a retired professor of political science who taught at the University of Oklahoma. “His level of expertise does not match the level where he stands in the White House.”

The prof said he has “some discomfort” watching Gorka claim academic gravitas for his stands lashing out at enemies of Trump.

“(He )does a very good job being the bulldog, if you will, for the administration,” Sloan said.

After the ouster of Gorka’s White House ally Steve Banno, two sources close to the White House told CNN that Gorka was on thin ice.

Gorka has been accused of being a sworn member of a far-right wing Hungarian group that was allied with the Nazis. Democrats have demanded a probe into whether he failed to disclose the ties when he became a U.S. citizen.

His academic credentials were also questioned before, and one prominent terror analysts coined the hashtag #faketerrorismexpert to describe him.

Dave Goldiner is the Forward’s director of digital media. Dave is a veteran journalist who has spent two decades working at newspapers in the United States and Africa. A native New Yorker, Goldiner wrote for the New York Daily News, where he covered some of the biggest stories of our time, including the attacks of September 11, along with thousands of stories of hope and heartbreak. He also studied and worked in Southern Africa and has written for publications in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He holds masters degrees in journalism and public administration from Columbia University. Dave can be reached at [email protected], or follow him on Twitter @davegoldiner

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