Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
He is the latest big name in conservative media who will be “moving at the speed of Trump.” Salem Media radio host, Dr. Sebastian Gorka, was tapped over the weekend to serve in President-elect Trump’s second administration as senior director for counterterrorism.
The radio host, who also has a Sunday show on Newsmax, is no stranger to Washington. He served in the previous Trump administration as a deputy assistant and counterterrorism strategist. It is this national security expertise which brought the London-born host to media.
“I started to do interviews for Fox News around the time of the Paris attacks,” Dr. Gorka said. “I got a lot of exposure because of what was happening in France, and that led to a lot of attention from the likes of Sean Hannity and others. So, I did a lot of TV media, then radio media.”
After his time in the administration, Salem offered Dr. Gorka his own radio show, America First. “Radio is live, it’s unscripted,” he said. “And often the host is connecting with the listener in a very intimate fashion. They’re listening to them in their car, while they’re walking the dog, while they’re doing some chores at home. If you’re faking your attitude, your analysis, your demeanor, the three hours of talking will very quickly demonstrate to the listener that it is artifice and that it’s not genuine.”
Dr. Gorka believes this is why conservatives have dominated the talk radio landscape for years. He said, “People don’t want to listen to something that’s hate filled and artificial for hours on end.”
Saying he is as much a consumer as he is a producer of radio, Dr. Gorka attributed his love of radio to his mother, who worked in media. “My mother actually worked for Radio when the BBC was still an institution of integrity,” he recalled. “When she was awake, the radio was on and I’ve kind of inherited that.”
In addition to his daily radio show, Dr. Gorka also hosts the Gorka Reality Check on Newsmax every Sunday. He explained, “Because my TV show is weekly, I can dedicate the whole hour to an issue like trans lunacy, or the border, or the economy, or war in the Middle East, which gives me the luxury to go a little bit deeper than having to cover what happened this morning in the current news cycle.”
Aside from his unique opinions, Dr. Gorka often brings his radio talent to the TV screen, by not using a prompter. “I think the closer you can get television to radio, the more exciting it is,” he said “Also you differentiate yourself. How many cable monologues are there in an evening? There are a lot of them. How many of the panel formats are there out there? Far too many. So, if you’re connecting, it’s the same as politics.”
Dr. Gorka is a big believer that facts are not enough to sway voters (and listeners) but there is a need to grab hold of their emotions as well. “Ben Shapiro is wrong,” he said. “I mean, he built his career on this catchy phrase, ‘Facts don’t care about your feelings.’ Yeah. Okay. But people have feelings and feelings are often what win elections and win arguments. The election on November the 5th wasn’t about tax policy or the fine minutia of how we’re going to fix the border.”
He went on to say, “I give credit to Brendan O’Neil out of the UK from Spiked online. The real reason for this trouncing of Kamala Harris and the Democrats and not just the electoral college, but in the popular vote as well, was an emotional, spiritual one.”
Comparing the 2024 election to Brexit, Dr. Gorka said, “The American people of every skin color [voted for Trump]. 25% of blacks voted for President Trump. People were fed up with being told you need to be ashamed of being in America. It was about pride. It was about, ‘I want to be allowed to love my country again’. That’s an emotional statement.”
This emotion Dr. Gorka sees in American politics is the very same emotion which he believes bring people to their choice of media. “That’s the obverse of what Shapiro has been telling us for years and as such, that’s the important aspect of communication,” he said. “Be it radio, podcasts, TV, you have to connect that you have the truth. If you’re a patriot, if you’re a believer, if you’re a conservative, you have the truth.”
It is this truth which Dr. Gorka says other media outlets lack. “The mainstream legacy lying media are prostitutes for the Democratic party, and they literally have talking points, whether it’s about President Trump, Matt Gaetz, the border or the economy, they’re just propaganda outlets. And that’s why the conservative movement owns talk radio, because we’re prepared to tell the truth.”
He later added, “I say to conservatives, we have the truth. The other side denies the existence of truth, not just the existence of God, but the existence of objective truths. Conservatives and patriots believe in God, believe in family, believe in truth and objective truth and we think that’s enough.”
For those looking to follow in Dr. Gorka’s footsteps, his advice is simple, “Whether they want to work in media or be a brain surgeon, it’s the same piece of advice. Put your stinking phone down for an hour a day, switch it off and pick up a book, preferably written by a dead white guy, who died at least 400 years ago.”
From Plato to Shakespeare, Dr. Gorka believes these writers of the past will help many expand their horizons in the future. “The truth is immutable,” he said. “The truth of mankind and what moves human beings hasn’t changed since the first Cro-Magnon man came out of that cave. Read, read, read. Become an expert in a field. Make yourself indispensable in that field.” He later added, “Become the person who, on a specific issue, is a proven expert and authority. That’s what you want to have.”
Note: This interview took place before President-elect Trump announced Dr. Sebastian Gorka would be joining the Trump Administration
Krystina Alarcon Carroll is a news media columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
