Former national security adviser John Bolton slammed Sebastian Gorka as a “con man” after President-elect Donald Trump selected him to serve as a counterterrorism adviser in his second term.
“Sebastian Gorka is a con man. I wouldn’t have him in any U.S. government. Fortunately, it’s not the highest position he had been mentioned for. But I don’t think it’s going to bode well for counterterrorism efforts when the NSC senior director is somebody like that,” Bolton said in an interview on CNN’s The Source when asked about Gorka’s qualifications.
“And this is why, obviously everybody is now focusing on the top jobs,” he continued. “But the questions of who are the deputy secretaries, who are the undersecretaries, and so on is also going to tell us a lot about who’s actually running the government.”
Bolton’s comments came hours after Trump announced that Gorka will serve as a deputy assistant to the president and the senior director for counterterrorism in his administration.
In a statement Trump praised Gorka as “a tireless advocate for the America First Agenda and the MAGA Movement.”
Asked why he viewed Gorka as a “con man” Bolton told CNN: “He needs a full field FBI background investigation about his educational claims and things like that.”
“I think he is a perfect example of somebody who owes his position purely to Donald Trump. He’s he doesn’t display loyalty,” he said. “He displays fealty. And that’s what Trump wants. He doesn’t want Gorka’s opinions. He wants Gorka to say, ‘Yes, sir.’ And I am fully confident that’s exactly what will happen no matter what it is, Trump says.”
