Just a few days after #lastnightinSweden , Swedes are now asking “who is Nils Bildt?” the man that was on Fox News Friday and inaccurately labeled as the “Swedish Defense and National Security Advisor.”
Bildt went on the O’Reilly Factor , agreeing with the statements made by Donald Trump in Melbourne, Florida, less than a week ago. The reason that Swedes are talking about Nils Bildt is not because of what he is saying, but because he is not the Swedish defense and national security advisor as Fox labeled him. How did Bildt end up on Fox News’ O’Reilly Factor as a false expert ?
“Our booker made numerous inquiries and spoke to people who recommended Nils Bildt and after pre-interviewing him and reviewing his bio, we agreed that he would make a good guest for the topic that evening,” said David Tabacoff, executive producer for The O’Reilly Factor.
According to Factor spokesperson, Bill O’Reilly will further address this on the show.
On the O’Reilly Factor , Bill first spoke to Ann Sofie Naslund from Expressen who stated that the issues with immigrants are not about safety, but about social issues such as schooling.
Metro reported that after Naslund, Nils Bildt, a Swedish man, went on the popular Bill O’Reilly show on Fox News in the United States, talking about the connection between crime and immigration in Sweden, and agreeing with what Donald Trump said nearly a week ago.
What was startling to Swedish people everywhere is that Bildt was presented as a “Swedish Defense and National Security Advisor.” This made a lot of people ask on social media who Nils Bildt is as no one has ever heard of him before. Metro inquired with the Swedish Embassy and they did not know who he was.
It appears that Nils Bildt is not who he says he is. He is really Nils Tolling, and Nils Bildt is his alias, according to Johan Wiktorin, who is an intelligence and security advisor, the CEO of Brqthrough, and chair of SCIP Nordic-Baltic. Wiktorin is not too impressed with Fox News on who they claim is their Swedish national security expert.
So @FoxNews This is Nils G Tolling and he’s not known in our circles as an expert. Not on National Security anyway. pic.twitter.com/2MVu85mhWr
— Johan Wiktorin ? (@forsvarsakerhet) February 24, 2017
According to SVD , Nils Bildt does not even live in Sweden. Bildt emigrated from Sweden in 1994 and grew up in Westport, CT, and now runs a security company in the United States. He has a Master of Arts in International Policy. He changed his last name from Tolling to Bildt in 2003.
Swedish paper Aftonbladet , has more information on the Fox expert. Bildt spent a year in jail after being convicted in 2014 by Arlington District court of being guilty of violence towards a civil servant. In court, Bildt reportedly even threatened the victim. His character took a hit with the court comment of “He has no self-control.”
In addition, there appears to be a Wikileaks file on Tolling.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=703407136494915&set=a.107947046040930.18297.100004769051320&type=3&theater
On Friday, Metro did reach out to Nils Bildt, who responded by email that he is an independent analyst, and Fox News chose to mislead their viewers by labeling him a “Swedish Defense and National Security Advisor.”
“I participated in Bill O’Reilly’s program on Fox News, it was Fox News editor who used the title – I myself had no control over their choice of title. I am an independent analyst based in the United States. I hope this clarifies the matter. “
Sweden has been in the spotlight this past week and there has been in the spotlight this week since United States President Donald Trump’s comment out of nowhere at the Melbourne political rally. Trump spoke of the open migration policies of Germany and Sweden and then proceeded to go into a rant about the Nordic Country.
“When you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden – Sweden! Who would believe this? Sweden!”
Swedish Justice and Migration Minister, Morgan Johansson spoke to Reuters about Trump’s comments and expressed his dissatisfaction with what the president alluded to in his cryptic statement.
“The next time I hope the president, if he’s going to speak about Sweden, is better informed about what the conditions really are here.”
It will certainly be curious to know why Donald Trump felt the need to say that the #fakenews media is lying about what is happening in Sweden, in terms of immigration, especially as Fox News used a fake expert to agree with the President.
Give the public a break – The FAKE NEWS media is trying to say that large scale immigration in Sweden is working out just beautifully. NOT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2017
Update: Bill O’Reilly addressed the Bildt situation on Monday, February 27, on Fox News Channel’s The O’Reilly Factor .
“Finally tonight, The Factor Tip of the Day. Last week we did a segment on Sweden and its Muslim immigrant situation. Both sides were presented as always. After the segment some left wing people objected to one guest, Nils Bildt who was introduced by me as a “Swedish Defense and National Security Advisor.” The Swedish government also weighed in saying they’ve had no contact with Mr. Bildt. Now, we looked into the situation and the criticism is valid. It’s valid. Mr. Bildt does consulting work on terrorism, that’s true – but we should have clarified that he had no direct role with the Swedish government. To be fair, the information we gave you in the segment was accurate but in hindsight a more relevant guest should have been used on the anti-immigrant side. You should also know that before the segment was booked we asked the Swedish Ambassador to appear, he declined. That invitation stands. Factor Tip of the Day.”
What do you think about Nils Bildt and his appearance on Fox News’ O’Reilly Factor ?
[Featured Image by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images]