White House counterterrorism adviser Sebastian Gorka rejects claims of anti-Semitism after a series of reports accusing him of being a member of a Hungarian far-right nationalist group.
According to an article published in March by the Forward, Gorka, a native of Britain who is the son of Hungarian immigrants, allegedly is a member of Historical Vitézi Rend. The group is a namesake of Vitézi Rend, a defunct order of merit that had existed as a state entity for 20 years until 1944 under the rule of Miklos Horthy, Hungary’s Nazi-allied leader. Vitézi Rend was disbanded, outlawed and ceased to exist in the 1940s following the World War II defeat of Nazi Germany.
Sebastian Gorka, left, a top aide to US President Donald Trump, seen in on inauguration day wearing the uniform and medal of Vitézi Rend, a Hungarian order of merit with ties to Nazi Germany (Fox News)
Speaking at the Jerusalem Post annual conference in New York, Gorka, who has appeared on TV wearing a Vitézi Rend pin, says he wore the pin in honor of his father who received it from the group for his work fighting against communists.
“I have spent my life fighting against totalitarian ideologies, and so has my father,” he tells Post editor Yaakov Katz. “Nobody has found one sentence that I have said in the past 45 years that is anti-Semitic.”
Asked if he understands the sensitivity surrounding the issue, Gorka says the Jewish community has nothing to worry about. “Look at the facts. Look at what President Trump and Vice President Pence have said. We will always unapologetically stand by Israel,” he says.
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