WATCH: Trump’s New Ambassador to the Netherlands Gets Caught in His Own Lies by Dutch Reporter – Then Lies Again
‘I Didn’t Call That Fake News’ (He Did)
President Donald Trump’s new Ambassador to the Netherlands was confirmed just eleven days ago, but he’s already off to a very bad start overseas, and he’s not even there yet. A former House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Ambassador Pete Hoekstra was even born in the Netherlands, but that’s not smoothing things over for the conspiracy theory promoting anti-gay, anti-choice, anti-Islam religious right Tea Party Republican.
In a video clip that’s going viral on Twitter after making the rounds in the Netherlands, a Dutch reporter in the U.S. is seen asking Hoekstra why he chose to spread the lie that there are so-called “no-go” zones in the Netherlands, and that cars and politicians are being set on fire there.
Ambassador Hoekstra vehemently denies having said that, and goes as far as saying any such claim is “fake news,” a favorite retort of the U.S. President himself.
“That is actually an incorrect statement,” Hoekstra insists, “yeah – we would call it fake news,” he adds, literally shrugging it off.
“I never said that – no, it’s not what I said.”
Just perfect.
Dutch journalist to new US Ambassador: you said there were ‘no go zones’ in Netherlands, where are they?
Ambassador: That’s fake news, I didn’t say that
Journalist: We can show you that clip now.
Ambassador: Err 😳🤥 pic.twitter.com/8ohIOzmYAc— Sunny Hundal (@sunny_hundal) December 22, 2017
But the reporter then shows the ambassador video of him saying exactly what he is being accused of saying.
“The Islamic movement has now gotten to a point where they have put Europe into chaos. Chaos in the Netherlands, there are cars being burned, there are politicians that are being burned,†he says on camera. “And yes, there are no-go zones in the Netherlands.â€
After watching the video, the reporter challenges Hoekstra again.
“You called it fake news –”
“I didn’t call that fake news, I didn’t use the words today,” Hoekstra responds.
“No?” the reporter says, stunned, and actually turns his head, presumably to his producer, wondering what to do with Hoekstra, who is clearly lying.
“I don’t think I did,” Hoekstra continues.
Not willing to press further, the reporter ends by saying “No? OK,” and laughs for lack of anything else to say.
The Netherlands should tell the U.S. Dept. of State it is refusing our ambassador.
The Washington Post reports that “Hoekstra was being interviewed by reporter Wouter Zwart for current affairs program Nieuwsuur. The interview is not playing well in the Netherlands. (One sample headline: ‘The new Trump Ambassador to the Netherlands, Pete Hoekstra, lies about his own lies.’)”
After Trump announced Hoekstra’s appointment, Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant observed that Trump “put a Dutchman in the Netherlands — but it is a Dutchman from the Netherlands of the ’50s.â€
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