John Bolton Chaired Anti-Muslim Group Shortly Before Joining Trump Admin

OXON HILL, MD, UNITED STATES - 2018/02/22: John Bolton, Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) sponsored by the American Conservative Union held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill. (Photo by Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
OXON HILL, MD, UNITED STATES - 2018/02/22: John Bolton, Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) sponsored by the American Conservative Union held ... OXON HILL, MD, UNITED STATES - 2018/02/22: John Bolton, Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) sponsored by the American Conservative Union held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill. (Photo by Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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National Security Adviser John Bolton served as the chair of an anti-Muslim nonprofit, the Gatestone Institute, through March 2018, NBC News revealed in a Monday morning report.

Bolton began as chair of the group based in New York in 2013 and only left the month before he started as President Donald Trump’s third national security adviser.

The Gatestone Institute has published articles warning that “jihadists” may be “taking over Europe” and peddled pieces with headlines like “Germany Confiscating Homes to Use for Migrants,” as NBC News noted. The organization has also published pieces insisting that “no-go zones” exist in Europe, a myth parroted by anti-Muslim conservatives.

Bolton himself did not author the anti-Muslim posts on the Gatestone Institute’s website, but he still chose to associate himself with the group.

Read NBC News’ full report on Bolton and the Gatestone Institute here.

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Notable Replies

  1. Wouldn’t actual reporting involve revealing Bolton HAD NOT chaired an anti-Muslim organization?

  2. Yeah, seriously, THAT would have shocked me. This news? Meh…par for the course.

  3. I think you mean actual journalism, not actual reporting. Actual reporting does include nothing that dog bites man.

  4. Avatar for sanni sanni says:

    What isn’t in this snippet from the article, is that some of the items from this group were used by IRA russian trolls to spread misinformation.

    Tie that into some of Bolton’s other work that intersected with the Mercers and Cambridge Analytica - and maybe we start to get a broader picture of why Trump overcame his being offput by the mustache and picked Bolton? Maybe some external nudging? Ya, sometimes when the Russian and CA intersections get too close it gets really easy to slide into a bit of conspiratorial thinking. Sue me.

  5. Avatar for sanni sanni says:

    o/t - sorta (cause he is supposed to be overseing Trump’s access to National Security issues) - but this story seems rather important. Because if targetted Russian Oligarch’s on the Sanctions list (the Trump released one) just can get ‘exemptions’ - then what is the point? I hope this gets more coverage:

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

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