Rights leaders ask Trump to fire 'alt-right' hero Bannon
WASHINGTON _ Religious and civil rights leaders called on President Donald Trump to fire White House advisers Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka, whose association with the white-supremacist "alt-right" movement has come under heightened scrutiny after Saturday's violent clash in Charlottesville, Va.
"Supporters of white supremacists, violent extremism, racial bigotry and neo-Nazis should not serve in the White House or any level of government," said Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
Bannon, Trump's chief strategist, is the former executive chairman of Breitbart News, a right-wing news site that's a favorite with white nationalists and the so-called alt-right movement of anti-Semitic and white-power groups, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Bannon also was CEO of Trump's presidential campaign.
Gorka, a deputy assistant to Trump, has ties to anti-Semitic, right-wing groups in Hungary.
Farhana Khera, president and executive director of Muslim Advocates, said Gorka "gave cover" to individuals who bombed a mosque in Minnesota when he called it a "possible fake hate crime."
"Until the president purges his staff of supporters of the white supremacist movement, the president's condemnation (of violence in Charlottesville) has no credibility. The presence of Bannon and Gorka in the administration is the president's silent message to extremists to continue their march of terror against our communities. And it must stop," Khera said.
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