White House aide implies that Donald Trump maybe doesn't think Islam is a real religion

Sebastian Gorka is a former Breitbart national security editor-turned-senior White House aide. This morning, in an interview with Morning Edition‘s Steve Inskeep, he declined to say whether or not the president of the United States believes Islam is a religion.

Here’s the full exchange, as transcribed by Talking Points Memo:

“What is the phrase he uses again and again? It’s not Islam,” Gorka said. “It’s not a discussion about Islam as a religion or not a religion; it’s about radical Islamic terrorism. We are prepared to be honest about the threat; we’re not going to white it out, delete it as the Obama administration did. We understand that groups like ISIS have a religious verbiage. Their justification for violence is always religion.”

“Forgive me, I understand what you’re saying, but does the president believe that Islam is a religion?” Inskeep pressed.

“I think you should ask him that question,” Gorka replied. “I’m not a spokesperson for the president. I’m a deputy assistant to him. But I would say that’s a misreading of everything he said in the last 18 months.”

The Trump administration is becoming a little like Noah’s Ark but if God had instructed Noah to save two of every variety of bigoted conspiracy theorist from the flood.