(WASHINGTON, D.C., 6/18/19) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today decried the expected appointment of Katharine Gorka, a notorious Islamophobe, to be the new press secretary at Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Gorka, currently a political appointee at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has claimed that the DHS trains its agents ”” falsely, according to Gorka ”” that Islam is a “religion of peace.”
First on CNN: Katharine Gorka Expected to be named Customs and Border Protection Press Secretary
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/18/politics/katharine-gorka-customs-and-border-protection/index.html
“Katharine Gorka is an unapologetic bigot whose ignorant and hateful views belong in the dark recesses of the internet, not the press room of a federal agency. Her continued presence in the Trump administration is as detestable as it is predictable,” said CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw.
He noted that in 2014, Gorka wrote that when “Presidents Bush and Obama both publicly declared Islam to be a religion of peace,” it “struck a sour chord for many,” and that “American and Western leaders have preemptively shut down any debate within Islam by declaring that Islam is the religion of peace.”
She is married to Sebastian Gorka, a former Trump administration official who is also known for his Islamophobic views. He once called religious profiling of Muslims “common sense” and repeatedly declined to say whether President Trump believes Islam is a real religion.
SEE: Adviser Declines to Say if Trump Believes Islam is a Religion
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/sebastian-gorka-trump-islam-a-religion-235562
Georgetown University’s Bridge Initiative stated that Ms. Gorka has a “history of promoting anti-Muslim conspiracy theories.”
Factsheet: Katharine Gorka
https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/factsheet-katharine-gorka/
CAIR has repeatedly expressed concern about a “troubling Islamophobic trend” in President Trump’s appointments and nominations.
Become a Fan of CAIR on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational
Subscribe to CAIR’s Email List
http://tinyurl.com/cairsubscribe
Subscribe to CAIR’s Twitter Feed
http://twitter.com/cairnational
Subscribe to CAIR’s YouTube Channel
– END –
CONTACT: CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]