This coming Monday, UNC’s chapters of Christians United for Israel and College Republicans are hosting Sebastian Gorka, a former Trump advisor. Gorka’s talk will be able to provide some insight into the current administration with foreign policy in the Middle East and Israel.
Gorka was deputy assistant to President Trump who, depending on who you ask, either resigned or was fired from his position in August.
However, what Gorka says must be taken with a grain of salt.
Our own Dr. Andrew Reynolds in the political science department provided a rather damning look at Gorka’s dubious credentials. Two of the three referees for Gorka’s dissertation lacked a PhD of their own, and the one doctor among them is a far-right member of the Hungarian parliament.
Even Stephen Sloan, one of Gorka’s academic advisors, said: “I would not call him an expert on terrorism,” further noting that he was not qualified to hold such a high governmental position.
More frightening than his lack of expertise are Gorka’s extremist opinions and connections to the alt-right. He has expressed blatant anti-Islamic views in the past, and before working for President Trump, he served as a national security editor for the alt-right-affiliated Breitbart News.
Gorka’s shaky credentials and his repulsive history of xenophobia are clear, but the First Amendment allows him an audience on this campus. At what point should these characteristics prohibit someone from receiving an invitation to speak at UNC? Let’s hold our speakers to the same standard as our university.
