Sinclair-Owned KATU Aired a Special Hosted By Nazi-Linked Trump Crony

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On Friday morning, Media Matters For America published a post about the latest conservative smut to fill the airwaves of Sinclair Broadcasting Group, a television broadcast company that owns local TV news affiliates across the country, including Portland’s own KATU.

The post’s author, Pam Vogel, notes that Sinclair stations have “recently began airing a ‘special program’ hosted by former Trump aide and current Fox News contributor Sebastian Gorka called Inside Socialism.”

Sinclair is known for forcing its stations to air right-wing commentary, and even making its anchors read scripts sent straight from corporate headquarters.

KATU has confirmed to the Mercury that it was among the Sinclair stations to air Inside Socialism earlier this month. The program, a multi-part series, examines different socialist regimes throughout world history, with a definite anti-socialist bent. But perhaps the most noteworthy part of the show isn’t its subject matter, but its host.

Gorka is a former deputy assistant to Donald Trump, and a current Fox News contributor. Like many in Trump’s orbit, Gorka is uncomfortably close to the alt-right—in fact, he is thought to have direct ties to a Hungarian Nazi group.

Gorka also hosted a special that aired on Sinclair stations back in March, called The Rise of Terrorism: A Clash of Cultures.

That special included some intense race-baiting rhetoric—as Vogel points out in her piece, Gorka posed the questions, “Can the teachings of Islam and western values ever be reconciled? Is it possible for the waves of refugees arriving in the west to assimilate and coexist peacefully?"