Anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders was accused of being a liar on Sunday for telling a German  television show that murdered populist politician Pim Fortuyn had been murdered by a radical Muslim.

Wilders was asked about the fact no-one could join the PVV and told the interviewer that he had been inspired by Fortuyn, who he called ‘a hero’. Pim Fortuyn was ‘addressing the problems I am addressing now and unfortunately he was killed and murdered by a radical Muslim.’

Fortuyn was in fact shot by radical environmentalist Volkert van der Graaf, who was jailed for 18 years for the killing.

The interview was recorded in January and partly broadcast but Wilders’ statement has only now become public.

Wilders later sent out a message on Twitter saying he actually meant Theo van Gogh, the television presenter and film maker who was stabbed by a radical Muslim in 2004.

In a second tweet he said: The left-wing elitist losers are enjoying my slip of the tongue but we are going to de-Islamise the Netherlands very quickly and that is no slip of the tongue.’

Hier het fragment waarin Wilders bij Duitse tv beweert dat Fortuyn door radicale moslim is vermoord, Volkert van der G kom er maar in…. pic.twitter.com/tz07eseZtE

— Martijn vander Zande (@vanderzande) February 26, 2017

Hé linkse elitaire losers geniet van mijn verspreking, maar we gaan Nederland wel heel snel deislamiseren en dat is geen verspreking!
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) February 26, 2017