Former Obama adviser fired for racist and Islamophobic comments in viral video

An ex-adviser to former US president Barack Obama has been sacked by his company after a video surfaced of him hurling a racist and Islamophobic tirade against a food cart vendor in New York. The man identified asStuart Seldowitz worked forGotham Government Relations - a DC-based lobbying firm which has cut ties with him.

Seldowitz in a viral video thread shared on social media, was caught harassing the vendor. Taking note of the situation,Gotham Government Relations on Tuesday (Nov 21) announced it was severing ties with him.

"Gotham Government Relations has ended all affiliation with Stuart Seldowitz, an individual who hasn't contributed to our work in years," the lobbying firm said in a statement.

"The video of his actions is vile, racist, and beneath the dignity of the standards we practise at our firm," it added whilst also removing his page from the firm's website.

Seldowitz was hired by the firm last year as its foreign affairs chair. Prior to that, he was acting director for theNational Security Council South Asia Directorate under Obama and was deputy director/senior political officer in the USState Department’s Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs from 1999 to 2003.

What did Seldowitz say?

In the video,Seldowitz starts off by saying that the Egyptian intelligence agency will get hold of the cart vendor's parents and torture them.

“The Mukhabarat wants your picture. The Mukhabarat in Egypt will get your parents. Does your father like his fingernails? They’ll take them out one by one,” Seldowitz saysas the man he’s addressing repeatedly tells him to leave and says he doesn’t speak English.

“Why should I go? Tell me why I should go? I’m standing here. I’m an American. It’s a free country. It’s not like Egypt,” Seldowitz responds.

Afterwards, Seldowitz whips out his phone to click a photo of the man while asking questions that disparaged Prophet Muhammad and the Quran, the holy book of Islam.

The user who posted the original video stated that Seldowitz had been harassing the vendor for the last two weeks. After the video went viral, a few more clips were posted on the platform whereSeldowitz could be seen routinely hurling vitriol towards the non-threatening cart vendor.

(With inputs from agencies)