US President Donald Trump’s new national security adviser, John Bolton, presided over a propaganda origination that has promoted misleading and false news against Muslims, according to a report.
Bolton was chairman of the Gatestone Institute, a New York-based advocacy group that tells people that Muslims would take over Europe leading to a “Great White Death,” from 2013 until March 2018, NBC News reported on Monday.
The group has published numerous reports on its website against Muslims and immigrants in Europe.
Gatestone is “a key part of the whole Islamaphobic cottage industry on the internet,” said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights and advocacy group.
He added that Bolton’s association with Gatestone, “and in one of the most powerful positions on the planet, is very disturbing.”
Gatestone is “putting out content that was clearly anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim” disinformation propaganda being spread on social media., said Alina Polyakova, a Brookings Institution fellow who studies far-right populism and disinformation campaigns in the European Union.
Polyakova said it was surprising for several people that Bolton had presided over the group.
Last month, Trump announced Gen. H.R. McMaster's replacement, making Bolton — a former US ambassador to the United Nations — his third national security adviser, part of a shake-up that creates one of the most hawkish national security teams of any White House in recent history.
Bolton formally started as national security adviser in early April.
Democrats and others have expressed concerns about Bolton's pro-war views, particularly during his time in the administration of George W. Bush leading up to the 2003 Iraq War.
Some analysts have said that the appointment of Bolton as US national security adviser indicates that the Trump administration plans to escalate hostilities towards Islamic countries, particularly Iran.
Shortly before the US and its allies invaded Iraq in 2003, Bolton reportedly told Israeli officials that once Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was removed, it would be necessary to deal with Syria, Iran and North Korea.
Foreign policy experts say Bolton is likely to encourage President Trump toward military confrontation with Iran.
Bolton has also called on Washington to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic, even though UN inspectors have repeatedly verified Iran’s compliance with the accord.