Trump's New Ambassador Grilled By Dutch Journalists Over Anti
Pete Hoekstra
President Donald Trumpâs new ambassador to the Netherlands   Pete Hoekstra   arrived at The Hague for  his  first day of work on Wednesday â and it turned out to be a rough one.
During  his  first press conference  Dutch journalists refused to let  Hoekstra  off the hook for comments  he  made in 2015 about Muslims causing âchaos in the Netherlands â burning politicians and creating âno-go zonesâ in that country. The journalists peppered the former Republican congressman from Michigan with questions asking if he still believes those widely debunked claims.
 Hoekstra  doggedly refused to retract his past comments or provide concrete examples to back up his claims  The Washington Post reports. The Dutch journalists responded to his reluctance by piling on their questions.
JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Ambassador Pete Hoekstra speaks during a press conference at the U.S. embassy in The Hague on Jan. 10  2018
âWhy donât you answer the question?â others chimed in  after  Hoekstra  attempted to move on.
Roel Geeraedts  a reporter at the Dutch television station RTL Nieuws  tweeted a video of the tense press conference. âThe only one who did get burned today is...  Hoekstra himself . By refusing to answer our questions â  he  wrote.
Today Dutch press welcomed @petehoekstra as new ambassador to the Netherlands. In 2015  Hoekstra  said Dutch"politicians are being burned" (not true). The only one who did get burned today is...  Hoekstra himself . By refusing to answer our questions. pic.twitter.com/Dv2aalbhDP â Roel Geeraedts (@RGjournalist) January 10  2018
 Hoekstra  made those claims about Islam during a recorded panel discussion in November 2015. The panel was sponsored by the David Horowitz Freedom Center  a Los Angeles-based organization known for promoting anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim ideologies.
âThe Islamic movement is now gotten to a point where they have put Europe into chaos â  Hoekstra  said back then  according to Reuters. âChaos in the Netherlands â there are cars being burned. There are politicians that are being burned and  yes  there are no-go zones in the Netherlands.â
 Hoekstra  has often made erroneous comments about Muslims and their faith.  He  has speculated that up to 15 percent of all Muslims could be radical extremists  according to CNN. Given that there are roughly 1.8 billion Muslims in the world  that would amount to about 270 million people.
 He âs also claimed in the past that Hillary Clintonâs longtime aide Huma Abedin had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. That conspiracy theory has been thoroughly debunked.
Last month in Washington  a Dutch reporter from the Nieuwsuur television program questioned  Hoekstra  about the âno-go zonesâ comment.  Hoekstra  asserted  he  hadnât said that â again  even though  his  2015 remarks were recorded.
When HuffPost asked about the clash at this weekâs press conference  a U.S. State Department spokesperson pointed to a tweet that  Hoekstra  sent out in December addressing the interview with Nieuwsuur. In that tweet  the ambassador expressed âregretâ about the exchange.
Please see my comments regarding recent interview. Thank you. Pete pic.twitter.com/gxQOcZ8Duk â Pete Hoekstra (@petehoekstra) December 23  2017
 Hoekstra  was born in the Netherlands and moved to the United States as a young child. The onetime congressman  who served from 1993 to 2011  sat for a period on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism quotes  Hoekstra  praising it as a ânational treasure whose influence and achievements are unparalleled.â
President Donald Trumpâs new ambassador to  [TGT] arrived at The Hague for   [TGT]   first day of work on Wednesday â and it turned out to be a rough one.
During  his  first press conference  Dutch journalists refused to let   [TGT] off the hook for comments   [TGT]   made in 2015 about Muslims causing âchaos in the Netherlands â burning politicians and creating âno-go zonesâ in that country. The journalists peppered the former Republican congressman from Michigan with questions asking if he still believes those widely debunked claims.
  [TGT] doggedly refused to retract  [TGT]  past comments or provide concrete examples to back up  [TGT]  claims  The Washington Post reports. The Dutch journalists responded to his reluctance by piling on their questions.
JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Ambassador Pete Hoekstra speaks during a press conference at the U.S. embassy in The Hague on Jan. 10  2018
âWhy donât you answer the question?â others chimed in  after   [TGT] attempted to move on.
Roel Geeraedts  a reporter at the Dutch television station RTL Nieuws  tweeted a video of the tense press conference. âThe only one who did get burned today is...   [TGT]  . By refusing to answer our questions â   [TGT]   wrote.
Today Dutch press welcomed @petehoekstra as new ambassador to the Netherlands. In 2015   [TGT] said Dutch"politicians are being burned" (not true). The only one who did get burned today is...   [TGT]  himself . By refusing to answer our questions. pic.twitter.com/Dv2aalbhDP â Roel Geeraedts (@RGjournalist) January 10  2018
  [TGT] made those claims about Islam during a recorded panel discussion in November 2015. The panel was sponsored by the David Horowitz Freedom Center  a Los Angeles-based organization known for promoting anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim ideologies.
âThe Islamic movement is now gotten to a point where they have put Europe into chaos â   [TGT] said back then  according to Reuters. âChaos in the Netherlands â there are cars being burned. There are politicians that are being burned and  yes  there are no-go zones in the Netherlands.â
  [TGT] has often made erroneous comments about Muslims and their faith.   [TGT]   has speculated that up to 15 percent of all Muslims could be radical extremists  according to CNN. Given that there are roughly 1.8 billion Muslims in the world  that would amount to about 270 million people.
  [TGT]  âs also claimed in the past that Hillary Clintonâs longtime aide Huma Abedin had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. That conspiracy theory has been thoroughly debunked.
Last month in Washington  a Dutch reporter from the Nieuwsuur television program questioned   [TGT] about the âno-go zonesâ comment.   [TGT] asserted   [TGT]   hadnât said that â again  even though   [TGT]   2015 remarks were recorded.
When HuffPost asked about the clash at this weekâs press conference  a U.S. State Department spokesperson pointed to a tweet that   [TGT] sent out in December addressing the interview with Nieuwsuur. In that tweet  the ambassador expressed âregretâ about the exchange.
Please see my comments regarding recent interview. Thank you. Pete pic.twitter.com/gxQOcZ8Duk â Pete Hoekstra (@petehoekstra) December 23  2017
  [TGT] was born in the Netherlands and moved to the United States as a young child. The onetime congressman  who served from 1993 to 2011  sat for a period on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism quotes   [TGT] praising it as a ânational treasure whose influence and achievements are unparalleled.â