Former White House advisor Sebastian Gorka doesn't want to talk to reporters from The Intercept about domestic U.S. policy because he views the outlet as "bad for democracy" and he doesn't like their "attitude." Also, he said, they're "a joke."
That was the result when journalist Lee Fang attempted to ask Gorka--back in the news this week after Fox News stirred controversy for hiring the right-wing firebrand as a contributor--if he would answer a few questions in Washington D.C. on Wednesday.
Watch:
While The Intercept--founded in late 2014 by journalists Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald, and Jeremy Scahill--continues to provide breaking and in-depth coverage of both domestic and global issues with a team of award-winning investigative journalists and outspoken editorial writers, the charges were especially curious coming from a man like Gorka--known for "shady ties to racist groups" and making outlandish Islamaphobic and xenophobic proclamations.
As Addy Baird wrote for ThinkProgress on Wednesday, the new gig at Fox for Gorka--"reportedly a sworn member of a Nazi-allied party in Hungary"--is hardly surprising, but troubling nonetheless. Baird reports:
Gorka left the White House in August, not long after his closest ally, former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. Gorka has repeatedly said he resigned, but a White House official told a pool reporter that Gorka "did not resign" but "no longer works at the White House."
During his time working for Trump, Gorka defended the White House's silence on a bombing at a mosque because, according to Gorka, it might have been faked by liberals. Gorka also drew criticism for saying people should stop criticizing white supremacists so much.
When Gorka left the White House, he complained the administration wasn't Islamophobic enough.
As free press advocate Tim Karr declared in response to the video posted of Gorka, "I can't imagine a more ringing endorsement of [The Intercept's] good and essential work."
