by Jim Lobe
Readers of LobeLog will know that we have been intensively covering the growing attention paid to Trump’s top counter-terrorism aide, Sebastian Gorka. We’ve focused particularly on his membership in the historically anti-Semitic and ultra-nationalist Vitezi Rend knighthood founded by Admiral Horthy, Hungary’s ruler from 1920 to 1944, and his various ties to far-right parties in Hungary in the early 2000s.
LobeLog broke the story about Gorka’s Vitezi medal back in mid-February and was the first to provide substantial background about Vitezi’s background and the Gorka family’s relationship to it, and the subsequent appeals by Jewish and human-rights groups for Gorka to be suspended or ousted from the White House pending a thorough investigation of his far-right associations. Reporting by Lily Bayer and Larry Cohler-Esses at the Forward has consistently broken new ground in the story about Gorka’s associations and relationship to Vitezi Rand over the past month, as have Gorka’s vague, equivocal, and evasive responses to the accumulating evidence.
Last night, the various controversies surrounding Gorka—including most especially his Islamophobia and doubtful expertise in counter-terrorism—were the subject of a nearly eight-minute segment on Samantha Bee’s “Full Frontal” comedy/news show. For those who are following the Gorka saga, we can think of no better—or entertaining—summary of this self-described “alpha male’s” situation than hers.
https://youtu.be/i30Crw-O88w
Why is Gorka allowed to get away with the nonsense that he only wears Vitezi Rend regalia to honour his ol’ Grampa? About half the population of Germany must have a a grandfatherly skeleton in the family closet. Even I had an uncle who was a fascist. No, you don’t wear such insignia out of filial love; you wear it because you share the values (if that is the right word) it represents.
A wickedly funny takedown of a neofascist poseur; no doubt, the nishtikeit has seen it already. Here’s hoping that someone gets fake POTUS to watch it, too.