“And yes, there are no-go zones in the Netherlands,” he added in the clip.

Then things got extremely weird.

When the reporter pressed, Hoekstra denied using the term “fake news,” which he'd uttered moments before.

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

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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.")

But the former congressman was always going to be a tough sell for one of Europe's most liberal countries.

Though Hoekstra was born in the Netherlands, his family emigrated to Michigan when he was a toddler. He served as a Republican congressman for a decade and a half, eventually chairing the House Intelligence Committee.

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In that time, he adopted several positions that are at odds with core Dutch values. Hoekstra is opposed to same-sex marriage and gay rights. In Congress, he voted repeatedly to limit women's rights to abortion. He supports the death penalty and has argued passionately that refugees are a threat to European security.

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Hoekstra has given several talks at the anti-Islam American Freedom Alliance, which has also hosted Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders. In 2015, Hoekstra blamed a “secret jihad” for the “chaos” in the Netherlands.

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.”

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Of the appointment, liberal politician Sophie in ’t Veld said: “We are looking forward with interest to cooperating with Mr. Hoekstra. We will certainly remind him his roots lie in a country that values tolerance, equality and inclusion. … We expect the representative of our friend and ally the United States to fully and wholly respect our values and to show that respect in all his acts and words.”