WASHINGTON, D.C. – Morton Klein, the National President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), says the false claims against President Trump’s Deputy Assistant Dr. Sebastian Gorka are a dirty political smear attempt to discredit a man who “is a great friend of Israel.”
“This is an attempt by the left wing to discredit Trump or anything Trump is associated with,” Klein told Breitbart News. “This is all political. I assure you if Obama had appointed Gorka as an advisor nobody would have said one word. This is a partisan political attempt to smear President Trump’s administration because Sebastian Gorka is a great friend of Israel.”
Klein said, “these attacks against Gorka remind me of the same absurd and phony attacks against Steve Bannon, who is also a great friend of Israel. This is utter rubbish, just like it was about Bannon.”
Last month, left wing-blogger Eli Clifton of the LobeLog blog falsely suggested Gorka had Nazi ties and empathy for the Nazi regime based off of a postwar medal he wore to an inaugural ball. In an interview with Breitbart News, Gorka explained the remarkable story behind the medal he sometimes wears to remind him of what his parents suffered under the Nazis and Communists in Europe and the struggle against totalitarianism.
More recently, left-leaning publication The Forward also falsely claimed that Gorka had once pledged loyalty to the postwar anticommunist Historical Vitézi Rend; a racist rival to the Vitézi Rend. Breitbart Senior Editor-at-Large Joel B. Pollak noted, “The word ‘historical’ was added to allude to the original Vitézi Rend, which was co-opted by Hungary’s Nazi-aligned government and later banned.”
Gorka told Tablet on Thursday, “I have never been a member of the Vitézi Rend. I have never taken an oath of loyalty to the Vitézi Rend.”
In 2015, the Forward changed its name from “The Jewish Daily Forward” to “the Forward.” Pollak noted, “This, apparently, was a nod to left-wing antisemites. After all, the Forward is critical of Israel. Verdict: Guilty!”
“The Forward and others should publicly apologize for this disgraceful phony attack on Sebastian Gorka, an American patriot, and American Zionist,” Klein told Breitbart News.
Stephen Goldstein of the Anne Frank Center has demanded Gorka resign, claiming that “grotesque Antisemitism… has infected the Trump White House.” Asked to react, Klein said, “I find almost everything I’ve read that Goldstein puts out is absurd. It’s not based on reality. Again, he is simply someone who despises President Trump and will try and do anything to discredit him.”
Klein added, ‘”Goldstein makes these attacks because of partisan, political hatred of the Trump administration. It is not based on truth. Anyone who knows me knows if there were a hint of antisemitism or Israel bashing from any of these people I would be out there at these people’s throats.”
In closing, Klein said, “As a Jew and as an American Zionist, and as someone who realizes and who fears the danger of the scourge of radical Islamic terrorism, I thank God every day that Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka have important positions in the Trump administration.”
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope @AdelleNaz
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