Press Contact:
Elliot Levy
Press Contact
202-800-7409
Release Date: Monday, May 1, 2017
New York – Following reports that Sebastian Gorka, a top adviser to President Trump, will be removed from his position in the White House and reassigned to a different post in the administration, Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc Jewish Action, released the following statement:
“The further away Sebastian Gorka is from our nation’s levers of power, the better. His reported ties to Nazi-aligned organizations in Europe, his virulent anti-Muslim views and his lack of national security qualifications and experience all completely disqualify him from a seat in the White House. If it’s true that he is being removed from his current position, that is a victory for all of us fighting for a White House free of racist, radical, far-right, antisemitic and white nationalist influence.
“But 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. Any normal president, when the truth about Gorka was exposed, would not have relocated him -- they would have removed him completely from the administration. But Trump is not a normal president, and is doing just what he did with Gorka’s ideological ally, Steve Bannon, who was demoted from the National Security Council but not removed from the White House. Trump is trying to shift our focus off these men, while still holding them close. We see what he’s doing and we do not accept it.
“President Trump must remove Gorka, along with all other white nationalist extremists such as Bannon, from government service entirely, and he must reject the policies and rhetoric of the white nationalist movement. We will continue to call out and oppose the anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-American policies of the Trump administration and all those who champion them.”
Bend the Arc Jewish Action is leading the movement within the American Jewish community to build a nationwide, grassroots resistance against the policies of the Trump administration that scapegoat Muslims, immigrants, refugees and other marginalized groups.
The organization has also been a leader in speaking out against the influence of white nationalists like Gorka and Bannon in the Trump White House, driving a joint Jewish-Muslim petition against Bannon that collected almost 30,000 signatures, and further digital actions demanding Bannon’s removal from the National Security Council and an investigation of Gorka. Last month, Bend the Arc joined with Muslim Advocates and the Arab American Institute to call for Gorka’s firing.
For more information about Bend the Arc Jewish Action’s work to oppose Trump, contact Elliot Levy at [email protected] or 202-800-7409.
