The credibility of Ted Malloch, the man tipped to be Donald Trump’s ambassador to the EU, is under question, the leader of one of the biggest political groups in the European parliament has said.

Gianni Pittella MEP, who leads the Socialists and Democrats, the second largest group in the chamber, responded to claims in the Financial Times about Malloch, who is said to have been interviewed by Trump for the Brussels role.

The FT suggests that a number of statements Malloch made in his autobiography, Davos, Aspen & Yale, are misleading or contradicted by available evidence. The claims questioned include Malloch’s suggestion that a documentary he presented, Doing Virtuous Business, was nominated for an Emmy. The paper also casts doubt on Malloch’s claims to have been “knighted” by the Queen and lauded as a “genius” or “global sherpa” by Margaret Thatcher.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gianni Pittella: ‘[Malloch’s] personal credibility has been heavily put into question.’ Photograph: Stephanie Lecocq/EPA

Pittella told the Guardian: “After the recent press leaks, the character of Mr Malloch seems to be more and more controversial – to use soft language. His personal credibility has been heavily put into question, something I would suggest President Trump takes into consideration before making his choice.

Pittella also drew attention to Malloch’s “personal and political hostility, not only toward the European Union as such but also to our common values and principles”.

“For the sake of the current and future relationship with the US administration, we strongly recommend President Trump not appoint Mr Malloch as next US ambassador to the EU. Should President Trump be otherwise willing to challenge Europe so blatantly, I think the EU should then declare him (Mr Malloch) ‘persona non grata’,” Pittella added.

Last week, the Guardian revealed Pittella was one of the leaders of three main parties in the European parliament who had written to the European commission and the European council calling on Malloch’s potential nomination to be the US ambassador to the EU to be blocked.

Malloch has made a series of anti-EU comments. Asked by the BBC why he was interested in moving to Brussels, he replied: “I had in a previous career a diplomatic post where I helped bring down the Soviet Union. So maybe there’s another union that needs a little taming.”

The FT’s claims have fuelled exasperation felt by many in Brussels over the fact that the White House has not yet ruled out Malloch as a contender for the Brussels role.

In Malloch’s book, he reportedly claims that his PBS documentary “was nominated for an Emmy award”. The FT reports on Thursday that a spokesman for the Television Academy, which awards the Emmys, could not find any record of the nomination.

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WFYI, the production company behind the documentary, said the film had been submitted for a Lower Great Lakes Chapter Regional Emmy but not nominated, the paper said. Malloch was involved in a previous documentary that was nominated for a Regional Emmy.

The FT also reported that Malloch had claimed that Thatcher, while prime minister, described him as a “genius” and “global sherpa” at the start of a 1992 speech. “I have used the praise and moniker ever since,” Malloch wrote in the autobiography, which is subtitled “My Life Behind the Elite Curtain as a Global Sherpa”.

According to the FT, a video of the event does not show Thatcher giving Malloch such accolades. Malloch told the FT the “global sherpa” comment was “an established fact” and that “about 2,500 people had heard” the remark.

The FT says Malloch also wrote that he was “knighted in the Sovereign Order of St John by the Queen, Elizabeth II herself” and “to my family and closest friends, I am therefore known as Sir Ted”.

Malloch received the medal of St John in 2005. It does not carry a right to a title and members do not attend an investiture with the Queen. Questioned by the FT, Malloch said: “Of course it’s not [a knighthood]. I never suggested it was.”