During Politico Live’s Security Summit, Sebastian Gorka didn’t just spar with Politico’s White House Bureau Chief Dasha Burns — he demolished the left-wing outlet’s narrative with brutal precision. In a fiery exchange that quickly went viral, Gorka took direct aim at Politico’s apparent unwillingness to confront the brutal realities of gang violence, illegal immigration, and media bias.
Gorka, the deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism, opened the exchange with a blunt truth: “If you’re a member of Al-Qaeda, you’re a terrorist.” What followed was a masterclass in dismantling progressive obfuscation.
When Burns tried to cast doubt on how law enforcement identifies violent gang members, asking, “How do you know if they’re members of these gangs?” Gorka didn’t flinch.
“You mean the tattoos MS-13 on their knuckles doesn’t… help it?” he shot back, cutting through her attempt to suggest there’s some ambiguity.
As Burns continued to hedge — “Well, it—” and “The, the tattoo did not say MS-13—” that’s when Gorka hit the gas: “Do you have tattoos of Al-Qaeda on your wrists?” The implication was that some evidence is just too obvious to deny.
Burns then tried to dodge the MS-13 connection: “The tattoo didn't say 'MS-13.' I don’t wanna get into that.”
“Oh, of course it does,” Gorka retorted.
That’s when Gorka dropped the hammer: “See, this is why Politico is a joke. This is why you are gutter press and fake news. That those four symbols that just happen to comport with the letters MS and the numbers 13 don’t, in this case, represent MS-13.”
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The moment Burns tried to distance herself from defending gang members, Gorka called it for what it was: “You’re sitting here live defending a member of MS-13.”
Burns denied it, but Gorka wasn’t interested in her spin: “That’s why I regret coming here because this isn’t journalism. This is protecting those who hate America. Shame on you.”
Burns weakly replied, “This is me asking you questions, sir.”
Gorka wasn’t done. He brought receipts. “We are saving lives,” he said, before launching into a searing indictment of media silence around the brutal deaths of women and children at the hands of illegal immigrant criminals.
“Like Rachel Morin, mother of five, raped and murdered and thrown in a ditch," he continued. "How about Jocelyn Nungaray, aged 12, raped a mile from her home… and thrown in a ditch? It’s strange that Politico doesn’t do articles about her, that mother, or that 12-year-old girl.”
Gorka asked what many Americans have been wondering: “Why is the MS-13 guy with the knuckle tattoos more important in terms of due process than the lives of 12-year-old girls brutally raped? It’s weird that the priorities shift to defending the member of a [foreign terrorist organization] but not the children and the women. It’s strange that Politico doesn’t cover those stories. Could you tell me why?”
Burns weakly insisted, “We have covered those stories.”
“No, you haven’t,” Gorka shot back. “I’d like to see the Jocelyn Nungaray, Rachel Morin stories in comparison to the Russia-Russia collusion garbage. I mean, let’s be honest here.”
And that’s when Burns, realizing she was outmatched, sought to change the subject.
🔥ROASTED🔥@SebGorka just eviscerated POLITICO on their own stage.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 15, 2025
"This is why POLITICO is a JOKE! This is why you're gutter-press and fake news!"
"You're sitting here, live, defending a member of MS-13!"
"This isn't journalism. This is protecting those who hate America.… pic.twitter.com/PMeoPAl0FA
It was such a brutal takedown that I had to watch it twice. It was so epic.
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