President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the United Nations migration organisation has been sharing his view that Muslims want to impose Sharia law in the US for several years.

A CNN investigation revealed that Ken Isaacs has an “extensive history” of posting tweets promoting “anti-Muslim sentiments”.

The US usually gets to pick the person to lead the UN International Organisation on Migration (IOM) given that the majority of the 169-member group’s $1bn budget comes from the US. The organisation attempts to help with “humane and orderly migration” and resettling refugees through financial assistance, which includes millions of people fleeing from Syria, Muslim-majority countries in Africa, and the Rohingya from Myanmar.

Mr Isaacs is not wholly unqualified for the position - he has spent several years working on relief efforts for Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian-based charity, and worked as the foreign disaster assistance chief for the US Agency for International Development during former President George W Bush’s administration.

His nomination was announced last month and shortly thereafter, the Washington Post reported Mr Isaacs had posted a response to a CNN story regarding the terrorist attack in London. The story had quoted a Catholic bishop who said the violence was not what Muslim faith teaches.

Mr Trump’s nominee wrote: “CNN, Bishop if you read the Quran you will know ‘this’ is exactly what the Muslim faith instructs the faithful to do”.

Mr Isaacs’ Twitter account was then made private and remains as such.

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He later issued a statement that read: “I deeply regret that my comments on social media have caused hurt and have undermined my professional record. It was careless and it has caused concern among those who have expressed faith in my ability to effectively lead IOM. I pledge to hold myself to the highest standards of humanity, human dignity and equality if chosen to lead IOM”.

CNN’s latest investigation uncovered even more tweets not found during the earlier Washington Post report.

Bullets and burns: injured Rohingya refugees Show all 10 1 /10 Bullets and burns: injured Rohingya refugees Bullets and burns: injured Rohingya refugees Rohingya refugee Mohamed Jabair, 21, reveals the burns on his bod, which he said he sustained when his house was set on fire in Myanmar REUTERS/Jorge Silva Bullets and burns: injured Rohingya refugees Refugee Momtaz Begum, 30, at Balukhali refugee camp. Begum told how soldiers came to her village demanding valuables.After beating her, they locked her inside her house and set the roof on fire. She escaped to find her three sons dead and her daughter beaten and bleeding REUTERS/Jorge Silva Bullets and burns: injured Rohingya refugees Imam Hossain, 42, sleeps at Kutupalang refugee camp, near Cox's Bazar. Hossain said he was returning home after teaching at a madrassa in his village when three men attacked him with knives REUTERS/Jorge Silva Bullets and burns: injured Rohingya refugees Rohingya refugee Setara Begum, 12, at Nayapara refugee camp. The home of Begum and her siblings was hit by a rocket. The young girl received no treatment for the severe burns to her feet. Her feet healed but she has no toes. Her mother said: 'She has been mute from that day, and doesn't speak to anyone. She only cries silently' REUTERS/Jorge Silva Bullets and burns: injured Rohingya refugees Mohamed Heron, 6, and his brother Mohamed Akter, 4, show the burns on their bodies at Kutupalong refugee camp. The boys' uncle said the burns resulted from Myanmar's armed forces firing rockets at their village Reuters Bullets and burns: injured Rohingya refugees Kalabarow, 50, at Leda refugee camp, in Bangladesh. Kalabarow said her husband, daughter and son were killed when soldiers fired on her village in Maungdaw. She was hit and lay on the floor pretending to be dead for several hours before a grandson found her. During their journey to Bangladesh, a village doctor amputated her REUTERS/Jorge Silva Bullets and burns: injured Rohingya refugees Ansar Allah, 11, at Leda refugee camp in Bangladesh. Allah showed a large scar – the result of a gunshot wound. His mother Samara said: 'They sprayed us with bullets, as our house was burning' REUTERS/Jorge Silva Bullets and burns: injured Rohingya refugees Anwara Begum, 36, at Kutupalang refugee camp, near Cox's Bazar. Begum said she woke to find her home in Maungdaw township in flames REUTERS/Jorge Silva Bullets and burns: injured Rohingya refugees Abdu Rahaman, 73, at Leda refugee camp in Bangladesh. Rahaman, a merchant from Maungdaw, was ambushed while walking on a mountain path with other refugees. A machete thrown at his feet severed three toes REUTERS/Jorge Silva Bullets and burns: injured Rohingya refugees Nur Kamal, 17, described how soldiers assaulted him after they found him hiding in his home in Maungdaw. His uncle found him unconscious in a pool of blood. It took them two weeks to get to Bangladesh. Kamal said: 'We want the international community to help us obtain justice' REUTERS

Mr Isaacs retweeted Robert Spencer, who runs the blog Jihad Watch, when he had written: "'Islamophobia' is a smear term designed to intimidate people into fearing to oppose jihad terror." Mr Spencer was supporting Mr Trump’s earlier re-tweets of anti-Muslim videos posted by the far-right extremist group Britain First.

In July 2017, Mr Isaacs retweeted a user who had written that New York Mayor Bill de Blasio "allows Sharia law to creep into school & community. Appeasement will eventually destroy freedom” in response to the city’s decision to recognise Muslim holidays in public schools.

There were several other incidents of retweets indicating that Muslims are terrorists and their religion is not a peaceful one.

The State Department said in a statement that it would continue to support Mr Isaacs’ bid for the position, despite concerns brought up by member countries.