GB News deletes interview with Peter Sweden after controversy over his alleged past Holocaust denial and other inflammatory comments about Jews

GB News, the conservative news and opinion channel, has deleted the video of an interview between host Neil Oliver and the far-right blogger Peter Sweden, after controversy erupted in relation to his past comments, which he now denies having made.

Peter Sweden, whose real name is believed to be Peter Imanuelsen and who has over 330,000 follows on Twitter, first gained notoriety offline in 2017 after Katie Hopkins, the political commentator who has long courted controversy with remarks about various minorities, including Jews, published a picture with Mr Imanuelsen, before deleting it after an outcry.

At the time and since, more and more tweets attributed to him about the Holocaust and Jewish people have surfaced.

On the Holocaust and Nazis, he is alleged to have tweeted:

• “If you want to know my position on the holocaust btw, I don’t think it happened. Note I’m not a nazi. [sic]”

• “The claim that 6 million jews were gassed seem highly unprobable. The concentration camps didnt have the facilities for that. [sic]”

• “I don’t like fascism, but I think hitler had some good points. I am pretty certain that the holocaust actually never happened. [sic]”

• “I believe the holocaust is a lie to further the agenda of NOW [New World Order]? [sic]”

• “I have also heard that concentration camps actually had swimming pools, cinema, theatre, football fields etc (photos). Opinion?”

• “By the way just so you know i am not a nazi : ) I think hitler had some good points, but i don’t agree with fascism or socialism [sic]”

• “I’m not a nazi, but they sure managed to keep rapefugees out of germany… [sic]”

• “they even had a commemorate coin with a swasitka on one side & a so called “star of david” on the other side… [sic]”

Numerous alleged tweets have propagated conspiracies about Jewish power:

• “How is the protocols of the elders of zion ‘anti-semitic’? Is the jews own text on jewish supremacism anti-semitic? [sic]”

• “Globalist cabal. In other words, Rothschild, Rockefeller, Goldman Sachs, George Soros etc. The aforementioned are Jewish.”

• “The globalists (mainly Jews) are the ones bringing in the muslims to europe. They seem to work together. [sic]”

• “The jewish supremacists are the very ones bringing in the muslims. Both are issues. [sic]”

• “Jews think they’re superior & they think they are going to have gentiles as slaves. Judaism is an antichrist religion.”

• “Since you are jewish, why don’t you mention that nearly all pornographic studios are owned by jews ? [sic]”

• “It is the vatican & the jews who are behind NOW {New World Order]. [sic]”

• “According to statistics 40-75% of jewish households owned slaves. Only 1.4% of whites did” and “These are official stats from the US government. [sic]”

• “Blair is not jewish from what i have heard. But he is a neocon which are mostly run by jewish people. [sic]”

• “I think symphatetic jews could be allies, but at a distance. We dont want people like Milo in the AltRight. [sic]”

• “Why is it often jewish people who are against nationalism…? [sic]”

On the Jews and Christianity, he is alleged to have tweeted:

• “The way i see this, it is jews hate christianity. That is why they want to try and destroy the west. [sic]”

• “Look for him ? Jesus has already come. The jews rejected Jesus Christ = they are anti-christ. [sic]”

• “Im not blocking jews from salvation. If any jew wants to convert & accept Jesus then that is great news ! [sic]”

• “There has of course been good jews, Peter, John, Paul etc. I suggest you listen to what the bible says about jews. [sic]”

• “I would suggest you read Martin Luthers book ‘On the Jews and Their Lies’. I think you will be surprised”; “I see you stand with israel. I suggest you read Martin Luthers book ‘On the Jews and Their Lies’”; “Read Martin Luthers ‘On the Jews and Their Lies’. You can see they had a problem with jews using usury back then too”; and “Have you read Martin Luthers views on the jews? [sic]”

These tweets were predominantly from 2016. Following the outcry in 2017 in relation to Ms Hopkins’ picture with him, Mr Imanuelsen apologised, saying: “My views now are very different and I strongly regret things I have said when I was young”. He added that he now believed that the Holocaust happened and that it was a “horrific crime”.

Years on, however, as the controversy erupted this weekend, he has doubled down, claiming: “It is fascinating to see the left hate the truth so much they come with FAKE, photoshopped, so called screenshots with outright LIES about me I have NEVER been a Holocaust denier and anyone claiming I am are LIARS.”

He has described claims that he denied the Holocaust as “categorically false and libel” and has reportedly deleted his previous apologies, possibly because of the paradox of at once apologising for tweets and at the same time claiming that they were never published in the first place.

GB News has now deleted the video of the interview that it posted to Twitter.

A spokesperson for GB News told Campaign Against Antisemitism: “We’ve been made aware that Peter Sweden, also known as Peter Imanuelsen, who appeared on GB News yesterday to talk about falling birth rates, has been accused of being a holocaust denier. As a result of this information, we have removed clips of Mr Sweden’s interview from our website and our social media channels while we investigate. GB News abhors antisemitism and all other forms of racism.”

Peter Imanuelsen told Campaign Against Antisemitism: ”I find it sad to see the mainstream media smearing people with lies, stating that I have been/or are a Holocaust denier. This is completely untrue. I have never denied the Holocaust and it is a lie from the far-left trying to discredit me with views I never had. The truth is that when I was young and started to see the lies in the media, like the lies they now publish about me, I as many lost trust in them and speculated in different views – but Holocaust denial was not one of them.

“These views, like doubts about the moon landing, conspiracy theories about the ”New World Order” and many other views, I have long left behind and strongly distanced myself from. I find it so disingenious to smear people like me with lies, and secondly that people are so full of hate that they cannot accept that someone had bad views and left them behind. But Holocaust denial is a view I never had, and to claim that I did is an outright lie.

“Neither is there any proof to back it up, just some fake, photoshopped screenshots with so called citations from me that are either completely untrue or taken completely out of context. It doesn’t require much technical skill to open a web browser in developer mode and create a fake statement. That I never have been a Holocaust denier is clearly proved to any honest person reading what I actually have written both on my homepage and my Substack.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “It is extraordinary that GB News would platform someone who has allegedly propagated Holocaust denial and repugnant conspiracies about Jews. This is, at best, a monumental vetting failure that should give the channel pause about where it looks for some of its guests. GB News was right to delete the video, but we and the general public still expect an apology from the station.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors traditional media and regularly holds outlets to account. If members of the public are concerned about reportage in the media, they should contact us at [email protected].