Pete Hoekstra contradicted himself twice in a minute on Dutch TV, denying he had spoken of Muslim-only ‘no-go’ zones then denying the terms of his denial

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

US ambassador to Netherlands describes own words as 'fake news' Read more

Pete Hoekstra, the newly sworn-in US ambassador to the Netherlands, issued a public apology on Saturday for comments he made in a 2015 interview about so called “no-go” zones in Muslim communities in Europe.

The comments came to light during a cringeworthy exchange on the current affairs programme Nieuwsuur on Friday where Hoekstra directly contradicted himself twice in a matter of less than a minute on live television.

“I made certain remarks in 2015 and regret the exchange during the Nieuwsuur interview. Please accept my apology,” Hoekstra shared on Twitter.

Pete Hoekstra (@petehoekstra) Please see my comments regarding recent interview. Thank you. Pete pic.twitter.com/gxQOcZ8Duk

The myth of “no-go zones”, concentrated pockets of Muslim immigrants in Europe so hostile to outsiders that non-Muslims cannot safely pass, has been widely debunked. It still, however, remains popular in some conservative and anti-Islamic circles and reached its peak shortly after the January 2015 terror attacks in Paris.

In the interview, reporter Wouter Zwart says: “You mentioned in a debate that there are no-go zones in the Netherlands, and that cars and politicians are being set on fire in the Netherlands.”

Hoekstra replies: “I didn’t say that. This is actually an incorrect statement. We would call it fake news.”

Hoekstra is then shown clips of him 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 burnt, there are politicians that are being burnt … and yes there are no-go zones in the Netherlands.”

Challenged about having called this “fake news”, Hoekstra then went on to deny to Zwart that he had in fact used the phrase “fake news”.

“I didn’t call that fake news. I didn’t use the words today. I don’t think I did.”

Hoekstra, who was born in Groningen in the Netherlands, was a Republican congressman for Michigan between 1993 and 2011, and served as chair of the House intelligence committee for two years during that time. In his statement he described himself as being “passionate about confronting the global threat of terrorism”, and elsewhere has described himself as a “Frequent writer and commentator on intelligence issues and the threat from radical Islam”.