Activists hoped the Trump adviser, known for his illiberal views on immigration and terrorism, would follow fellow Breitbarter Steve Bannon out the door

Progressive groups have welcomed the departure from the White House of national security aide Sebastian Gorka. One Muslim organisation proclaimed: “Good riddance.”

Gorka’s hardline views on immigration and terrorism were a source of discord inside the Trump administration and beyond. On Friday night, he told the Associated Press he had quit. An unnamed administration official, however, said Gorka did not resign but “no longer works at the White House”.

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Activists had been calling for Gorka, known for his illiberal views on immigration and terrorism, to follow his friend and fellow hardliner Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist who quit the administration a week earlier and returned to the conservative Breitbart News.

Farhana Khera, executive director of the group Muslim Advocates, said: “Good riddance to Sebastian Gorka. Muslim Advocates has vocally advocated for his ouster from the very beginning, because, even in a White House crawling with white supremacists, Gorka stood out for his consistent and lifelong commitment to anti-Muslim and antisemitic causes.”

Vanita Gupta, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 groups, said: “Sebastian Gorka’s departure is long overdue and welcome, but he should not have been working in the White House in the first place. No one who supports white supremacy and neo-Nazi ideas should be serving in this or any administration.”

Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer for president George W Bush, tweeted: “Gorka: Probably the most stupid of the alt-right in the White House.”

Gorka, 46, is a US citizen born in Britain to Hungarian parents. A former editor at Breitbart, he joined the administration as a counterterrorism adviser. But he was not part of the National Security Council and his responsibilities and relevant experience remained nebulous.

Trump told colleagues he had no idea what Gorka actually did but loved him on TV

On Saturday, the Axios website described him as “a bombastic White House aide known only to cable-news viewers”, although his British accent also became familiar to watchers of the BBC. Axios also reported: “Trump raved about Gorka’s performances, telling colleagues he had no idea what Gorka actually did but loved him on TV.”

Gorka, who clashed with national security adviser HR McMaster, declined to discuss the reasons he left the White House but pointed toward excerpts from a resignation letter posted by the Federalist website.

He wrote to Trump: “Regrettably, outside of yourself, the individuals who most embodied and represented the policies that will ‘Make America Great Again’ have been internally countered, systematically removed, or undermined in recent months.

“This was made patently obvious as I read the text of your speech on Afghanistan this week … The fact that those who drafted and approved the speech removed any mention of radical Islam or radical Islamic terrorism proves that a crucial element of your presidential campaign has been lost.”

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Gorka, who has previously worn a medal awarded to the Hungarian group Vitezi Rend, linked by some to Nazi collaborators, appears to be the latest casualty of a purge by the new chief of staff, John Kelly, in an attempt to impose discipline on the West Wing chaos.

Recent departures include Bannon, chief of staff Reince Priebus, press secretary Sean Spicer and communications director Anthony Scaramucci, who lasted just 10 days in the role.

Gorka quickly changed his Twitter home page, introducing a new photo and describing himself as an “irregular warfare strategist”. He tweeted a parody wartime poster, “Keep calm and MAGA on” – a reference to Trump’s slogan “Make America great again”.

Responding to a user’s comment that Gorka was now unleashed, he replied with a reference to the 1981 version of Clash of the Titans: “You make me sound like the KRAKEN. Love that movie!”

