A senior aide to Donald Trump went on an extraordinary rant after being asked by the BBC over the president’s willingness to accept a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar.
The president has come under fire after it emerged the plane could serve as Trump’s new Air Force One.
Trump has defended the move, declaring that it’d be “stupid” for him to pass on the aircraft and claiming it wouldn’t be a “gift” for him but to the U.S.’ Defense Department.
Critics have since pointed to a clause in the U.S. Constitution prohibiting officials from accepting gifts from “any King, Prince, or foreign State” without congressional approval.
Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s senior director for counterterrorism, was asked about the row while appearing on Radio 4′s World At One program.
Presenter Sarah Montague asked him: “The Qataris are giving a jet worth $400 million. The U.S. Constitution has provisions that no elected official should accept any present from the leader of a foreign state without congressional approval.
“Is there a problem with this, because it doesn’t look like it’s draining the swamp?”
Gorka replied: “Do you ever have pangs of conscience that you are so utterly and completely biased that all you can do is give in to your Trump derangement syndrome?
“Have you ever once said anything positive about President Trump or not knelt at the altar of left-wing ideology?”
The presenter then asked: “Is there a response to the question?”
Gorka replied: “Is there a response to my question?”
After Montague told him she was the one asking the questions, he said: “You know what, I like it when a head of state saves the taxpayer $400 million.
“I like that, OK, especially when Boeing has failed to deliver the new Air Force One for years on end, is behind schedule, and afterwards the plane is donated to the presidential library.
“Weird how BBC doesn’t know that. That’s because you’re not journalists.”