Following on the heels of an encounter with a reporter in the Netherlands where he gaslighted the reporter twice in the span of a couple of minutes, former Michigan legislator Pete Hoekstra held a press conference and things went decidedly “not well”. Hoeksta, the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, confronted this time not by just one reporter but multiple reporters, was once again asked about comments he made in the past about radical Islamic terrorists burning politicians in the Netherlands as well as the presence of so-called “no-go zones”. Since no politician in their country has been burned by terrorists and no-go zones do not exist there, a reporter asked Hoekstra if he could now admit he had lied. Hoekstra said he had issued a statement apologizing and then refused to answer the question, despite being asked multiple times.
Unfortunately for Hoekstra, the reporters in the Netherlands aren’t as forgiving as the ones he has encountered in the USA. “Excuse me, I asked you a question,” the first reporter said. “Mr. Ambassador, can you mention any example of a Dutch politician who was burned in recent years?” another asked. “This is the Netherlands — you have to answer questions,” another told him. All told, Hoekstra was asked the question five times and refused to answer it even once:
In fact, Hoekstra did NOT apologize for the comments regarding the burning of politicians and no-go zones in the Netherlands. Rather, he apologized for “the exchange during the Nieuwsuur interview”:
Please see my comments regarding recent interview. Thank you. Pete pic.twitter.com/gxQOcZ8Duk
— Pete Hoekstra (@petehoekstra) December 23, 2017
Pete Hoekstra embarrassed himself in Michigan as a candidate for U.S. Senate where Debbie Stabenow mopped the floor with his failed campaign. Now, in true Trumpian fashion, Hoekstra has taken his gig international and is now embarrassing the entire country as an ambassador.
Perhaps its time for Michiganders to investigate the possibility of a formal process for disowning a politician from their state.
Oh, one more thing: the guys from Pod Save America podcast are in Europe and had a little fun with this:
Hi @petehoekstra we’d love to have you at our show tonight in Amsterdam. It’s not a no go zone, is what we’re saying. And congrats on a great first day. –@PodSaveAmerica
— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) January 11, 2018
