{{short description|Canadian journalist}} {{Use Canadian English|date=October 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}} {{Infobox writer | name = Aaron Maté | image = Aaron Maté in 2021.png | caption = Maté in 2021 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1979|03|13|df=y}}<ref>{{cite Instagram|last=Maté|first=Daniel|user=danielbmate|postid=C4dsZjKRw7a|title=Happy birthday to @aaronjmate who, if not exactly my 'pride and joy', is someone I'm incredibly proud and endlessly joyful to be brothers with.|date=2024-03-13|access-date=2025-03-21}}</ref> | birth_place = Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | occupation = Journalist | education = Concordia University (BA) | genre = Political commentary | subjects = {{Plainlist| * U.S. politics * Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections * Douma chemical attack }} | spouse = | partner = | children = | years_active = 2005–present{{Citation needed|date=May 2026}} | awards = Izzy Award (2019) | parents = {{ubl|Gabor Maté (father)|Rae Maté (mother)}} | website = }} '''Aaron Maté''' ({{IPAc-en|'|m|A:|t|ei}} {{respell|MAH|tay}};<ref>{{cite web|url=https://indigenouswellnessandaddict.sched.com/speaker/dr_gabor_mate.21z1of7s|title=Dr. Gabor Maté|work=Indigenous Mental Wellness & Addictions Virtual Training Conference 2021|via=Sched.com|access-date=2025-03-21}}</ref> born 13 March 1979) is a Canadian writer and journalist.<ref name=Hom20/><ref name=Mal19>{{cite news |last1=Maley |first1=Dave |title=Izzy Award to Be Shared By Earth Island Journal and Journalists Laura Flanders, Dave Lindorff and Aaron Maté |url=https://www.ithaca.edu/news/izzy-award-be-shared-earth-island-journal-and-journalists-laura-flanders-dave-lindorff-and-aaron-mate |work=IC News |publisher=Ithaca College |date=April 3, 2019}}</ref> He hosts the show ''Pushback with Aaron Maté'' on ''The Grayzone''<ref name=Hom20>{{cite web |last1=Homan |first1=Timothy R. |date=19 June 2020 |title=Journalist Aaron Maté says Democrats are responsible for giving John Bolton publicity |url=https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/503604-journalist-aaron-mate-says-democrats-are-responsible-for-giving-john-bolton |access-date=18 May 2021 |website=The Hill |language=en}}</ref> and, as of January 2022, he fills in as a host on the ''Useful Idiots'' podcast.<ref>{{YouTube|kjRUAmT_v2k|Aaron Maté Joins Useful Idiots}} (6 January 2022)</ref> Maté has worked as a reporter and producer for ''Democracy Now!'', ''Vice'', The Real News Network, and Al Jazeera, and has contributed to ''The Nation''.<ref name="Chait 2019">{{cite web |last=Chait |first=Jonathan |title=Tulsi Gabbard and the Return of the Anti-Anti-Trump Left |website=Intelligencer |date=23 December 2019 |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/12/tulsi-gabbard-impeachment-trump-russia-2020-election.html |access-date=27 February 2023|quote=Krystal Ball and Aaron Mate recently speculated that Democratic leaders just might be setting up an impeachment trial in order to keep Sanders and Elizabeth Warren locked up in Washington and off the campaign trail... Leftists like Mate and Glenn Greenwald sometimes appear on Tucker Carlson’s show, giving an edgy, trans-ideological sheen to his increasingly overt white nationalism.}}</ref><ref name="The Intercept 2017">{{cite web |title=Aaron Maté |website=The Intercept |date=12 April 2017 |url=https://theintercept.com/staff/aaron-mate/ |access-date=22 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="Camut 2023 p730">{{cite web |last=Camut |first=Nicolas |title=Scoop! Why Ben from Ben & Jerry's blames America for war in Ukraine |website=Politico |date=2023-07-20 |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/ben-cohen-ukraine-war-russia-blames-america-ben-and-jerrys/ |access-date=2023-07-21}}</ref>
Maté currently works as a reporter for ''The Grayzone'', a far-left news website and blog.<ref name="Bloch_8/15/2022">{{Cite news |last=Bloch |first=Ben |date=15 August 2022 |title=Russell Brand slammed by antisemitism campaigners for platforming Corbyn apologist |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/news/russell-brand-slammed-by-antisemitism-campaigners-for-platforming-corbyn-apologist-7K4Tc6c5zGyTEbRhlK4s3g |work=Jewish Chronicle |quote=Aaron Maté is a Canadian journalist for the far-left blog, The Grayzone, which is known for its pro-Kremlin editorial line and its support for the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and has published content denying that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against civilians.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-08-28 |title=How a retired MI6 boss, his Brexiteer friends and a celebrity Marxist became targets in Russia's war on Ukraine |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/mi6-russia-hackers-used-a-pro-brexit-ex-mi6-boss-and-a-left-wing-labour-firebrand-in-its-ukraine-war/ |access-date=2022-11-12 |website=Politico |language=en-US |quote=After weeks of sitting on the internet, the cache of Brexiteer emails was picked up by fringe website the Grayzone, which promises "original investigative journalism" on "politics and empire" and has earned praise from Hollywood director Oliver Stone, famous for his interest in—and occasional embrace of—conspiracy theories.}}</ref>
He challenged allegations of collusion between the Russian government and the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, and the extent to which Russian interference influenced the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election,<ref name="Bloch_8/15/2022" /> winning an Izzy Award for this work.
Maté has testified at United Nations Arria meetings hosted by Russia and China, after being invited by the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations,<ref name="Постоянное представительство Российской Федерации при ООН 2023" /><ref name="b225">{{cite web |last=Fillion |first=Stéphanie |title=Does the UN Security Council Have an Arria-Formula Problem? |website=PassBlue |date=2021-07-06 |url=https://www.passblue.com/2021/07/06/does-the-un-security-council-have-an-arria-formula-problem/ |access-date=2025-02-10}}</ref> including one meeting concerning what Maté called a cover-up by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons regarding the April 2018 Douma chemical attack.<ref name="March 2023 Monthly Forecast 2023" />
== Early life == Maté was born into a Jewish family in Vancouver<ref name="Bloch_8/15/2022" /><ref name="The Georgia Straight 2017">{{cite web | title=Why Putin supports Marine Le Pen and tries to thwart Emmanuel Macron | website=The Georgia Straight | date=23 April 2017 | url=https://www.straight.com/news/898831/vladimir-putin-french-presidential-election-and-climate-change | access-date=2 May 2021}}</ref> to Rae Maté, a visual artist and an illustrator of children's books,<ref name="The New York Times 2011">{{cite web | title=Children's Books About Cats and Dogs | website=The New York Times | date=13 May 2011 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/books/review/childrens-books-about-cats-and-dogs.html | access-date=2 May 2021}}</ref> and Gabor Maté, a Hungarian-born Canadian physician, author, and columnist.<ref name="toi211219">{{cite news |last1=O'Malley |first1=JP |title=Addictions guru channels survival of the Holocaust into self-help empire |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/addictions-guru-channels-survival-of-the-holocaust-into-self-help-empire/ |website=The Times of Israel |access-date=23 August 2021 |date=21 December 2019 |issn=0040-7909}}</ref>
While a student, Maté was vice president of the pro-Palestinian student union at Concordia University in Montreal and he was the main subject of the National Film Board of Canada documentary ''Discordia''.<ref name="Scheib Scheib 2004">{{cite web | last=Scheib | first=Ronnie| title=Discordia | work=Variety | date=21 July 2004 | url=https://variety.com/2004/film/reviews/discordia-1200532087/ | access-date=1 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="Discordia">{{cite AV media |people=Aaron Maté |date=2002 |title=Discordia |url=https://www.nfb.ca/film/discordia/ |access-date=3 May 2021 |publisher=National Film Board of Canada |quote=NFB title:Discordia}}</ref> The film depicts Maté's campus activism in support of the Palestinian cause and the effect it has on his relationship with the student union and his Palestinian friends. He received death threats from fellow Jews due to his condemnation of Israel's treatment of Palestinians.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Schwartz |first=Stephanie |date=2012 |title=Double-Diaspora in the Literature and Film of Arab Jews |url=https://ruor.uottawa.ca/bitstream/10393/20690/1/Schwartz_Stephanie_2012_thesis.pdf|publisher=University of Ottawa}}</ref><ref name="Scheib Scheib 2004"/> Maté was arrested during the Concordia University Netanyahu riot on 9 September 2002, after stepping between protesters and police,<ref name="peak.sfu.ca 2003">{{cite web | title=e.Peak (16/9/2002) news: national: Violence erupts at Concordia | website=peak.sfu.ca | date=16 September 2002 | url=http://www.peak.sfu.ca/the-peak/2002-3/issue3/ne-idiotprotest.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030516004102/http://www.peak.sfu.ca/the-peak/2002-3/issue3/ne-idiotprotest.html | archive-date=16 May 2003 | url-status=dead | access-date=3 May 2021}}</ref> for which he faced expulsion.<ref name="Segacss World I Know 2003">{{cite web | title=Transcript from CBC's The National | website=Segacs's World I Know | date=15 January 2003 | url=https://www.segacs.com/transcript_CBCnational.html | access-date=3 May 2021}}</ref>
From 2003 to 2005 Maté worked as a primary researcher for Naomi Klein, who praised him as "a great intellect and terrific journalist".<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Klein |first1=Naomi |title=The Shock Doctrine |date=2007 |publisher=Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt |isbn=978-0-8050-7983-8 |page=528 |edition=1st |quote=Aaron Maté was my primary researcher in 2003–05, when my journalism focused almost exclusively on Iraq’s economic transformation. It was a blessing to work with Aaron, a great intellect and terrific journalist. Aaron’s imprint is unmistakable in the chapters on Iraq, as well as on Israel/Palestine.}}</ref>
== Journalism == Maté has worked at ''Democracy Now!, Vice Media, Al Jazeera English, {{Sort|Real News Network|The Real News Network}}'', {{Sort|Nation|''The Nation''}}, {{Sort|Grayzone|''The Grayzone''}}, and ''Rolling Stone.{{Citation needed|date=May 2026}}''<ref>{{cite web |title=Contributor: Aaron Mate |url=https://www.vice.com/en/contributor/aaron-mate/ |website=VIce |date=10 December 2015 |access-date=11 July 2024 |language=en}}</ref>{{sort-under}} === Scepticism about Russian election interference claims === Using the term "Russiagate", Maté covered the story around Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and criticized the mainstream media coverage of the Special Counsel investigation.<ref name="Washington Post 2019">{{cite news | title=YouTube recommended a Russian media site above all others for analysis of the Mueller report, a watchdog group says | newspaper=Washington Post | date=26 April 2019 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/04/26/youtube-recommended-russian-media-site-above-all-others-analysis-mueller-report-watchdog-group-says/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426161050/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/04/26/youtube-recommended-russian-media-site-above-all-others-analysis-mueller-report-watchdog-group-says/ | archive-date=26 April 2019 | url-status=unfit | access-date=1 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="dnizzy">{{cite news |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/3/headlines/2019_izzy_awards_honor_earth_island_journal_laura_flanders_aaron_mate_dave_lindorff |title=2019 Izzy Awards Honor Earth Island Journal, Laura Flanders, Aaron Maté & Dave Lindorff |website=Democracy Now! |access-date=12 May 2021 |language=en |date=3 April 2019|quote=Independent journalist Aaron Maté—formerly a ''Democracy Now!'' producer—consistently challenged the media's coverage of the Russia-Trump campaign collusion story, }}</ref><ref name="Keller 2021">{{cite web | last=Keller | first=Sydney | title=Park Center for Independent Media holds 11th annual Izzy Awards | website=The Ithacan | date=20 March 2021 | url=https://theithacan.org/news/park-center-for-independent-media-holds-11th-annual-izzy-awards/ | access-date=11 May 2021|quote=Maté also spoke about the President Donald Trump and Russia conspiracy. He said he believes the mainstream media has been promulgating a false narrative that Trump colluded with the Russian government during the 2016 campaign.}}</ref><ref name="Fernandez 2021">{{cite web | last=Fernandez | first=Madison | title=Park Center for Independent Media announces Izzy Award winners | website=The Ithacan | date=30 March 2021| url=https://theithacan.org/news/park-center-for-independent-media-announces-izzy-award-winners/ | access-date=2 May 2021}}</ref>
In October 2017, Maté discussed the media coverage of the investigation in ''The Nation'', stating that "unverified claims are reported with little to no scepticism ... developments are cherry-picked and overhyped, while countervailing ones are minimised or ignored. Front-page headlines advertise explosive and incriminating developments, only to often be undermined by the article's content, or retracted entirely." Maté contended that use of social media by Russia had no effect on the election: "To suggest 200 [Twitter] accounts out of 328 million could have had an impact is as much an insult to common sense as it is to basic math." And: "A $100,000 Facebook ad purchase seems unlikely to have had much impact in a $6.8 billion election."<ref>{{cite news|last=Maté|first=Aaron|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/russiagate-is-more-fiction-than-fact/|title=Russiagate Is More Fiction Than Fact|work=The Nation|date=6 October 2017|access-date=27 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Camilleri |first1=Joseph |title=US approach to security is deeply troubling – and it's not just about Trump |url=https://theconversation.com/us-approach-to-security-is-deeply-troubling-and-its-not-just-about-trump-91239 |website=The Conversation |date=11 February 2018 |access-date=16 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Tveten |first1=Julianne |title=How the "Fake News" Scare Is Marginalizing the Left |url=https://inthesetimes.com/article/fake-news-left-facebook-twitter-tech-companies |website=In These Times |access-date=21 September 2021 |language=en |date=11 October 2017|quote=As Aaron Maté recently noted in ''The Nation'', the number of accounts under suspicion – 200 – pales in comparison to Twitter's 328 million users. "To suggest 200 accounts out of 328 million could have had an impact is as much an insult to common sense as it is to basic math", Maté wrote. The Facebook case offers an analogue: "A $100,000 Facebook ad buy", according to Maté, "seems unlikely to have had much impact in a $6.8 billion election".}}</ref>
In a July 2018 article in ''The Nation'', following the 2018 Russia–United States Summit in Helsinki between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, he defended Trump against the statements made against him, such as the claim the summit had triggered an American "national security crisis".<ref name="Ntn20180728">{{cite news|last=Maté|first=Aaron|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/elite-fixation-russiagate/|title=The Elite Fixation With Russiagate|date=28 July 2018|work=The Nation|access-date=27 May 2021|quote=For declining to endorse US intelligence claims that the Kremlin meddled in our election and faulting both countries for the poor state of US-Russia relations, Trump was roundly accused of 'shameful,' 'disgraceful,' and 'treasonous' behavior that has sparked a full-blown 'national security crisis'.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Hunter|first=Jack|url=https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/what-if-russiagate-is-the-new-wmds/|title=What If Russiagate Is The New WMDs?|work=The American Conservative|date=16 August 2018|access-date=27 May 2021|quote=''The Nation''{{'}}s Aaron Maté believes liberals are overreaching, and that's putting it mildly: 'From the outset, Russiagate proponents have exhibited a blind faith in the unverified claims of US government officials and other sources, most of them unnamed. ... The record of US intelligence, replete with lies and errors, underscores the need for caution. Mueller was a player in one of this century's most disastrous follies when, in congressional testimony, he endorsed claims about Iraqi WMDs and warned that Saddam Hussein 'may supply' chemical and biological material to 'terrorists'.'}}</ref> In December 2017, Maté interviewed Luke Harding on ''The Real News Network'' about Harding's book about the Russian interference to help Trump, ''Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win''. ''Vanity Fair'' described Maté as "a polite but dogged skeptic who administered a memorable vivisection" to Harding during the interview.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Frank |first1=T. A. |title=The Hard Truths and High Cost of the Russiagate Scandal |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/03/the-hard-truths-and-high-cost-of-the-russiagate-scandal |magazine=Vanity Fair |access-date=12 May 2021 |date=25 March 2019}}</ref>
Maté earned an Izzy Award in April 2019 for his work "taking a factual, meticulous approach to the overhyped, over-exaggerated Russia election-collusion story" and for challenging press coverage of Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation.<ref name="dnizzy"/><ref name="Keller 2021"/><ref name="The Ithaca Voice 2019">{{cite news|last=O'Connor|first=Kelsey|title=Independent journalism highlighted with annual Izzy Awards | website=The Ithaca Voice | date=16 April 2019 | url=https://ithacavoice.com/2019/04/independent-journalism-highlighted-with-annual-izzy-awards/ | access-date=11 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="Park Center for Independent Media 2019">{{cite web | title=Izzy Award 2019 | website=Park Center for Independent Media | date=2 September 2019| url=https://www.parkindymedia.org/izzy-awards-2019/ | access-date=2 May 2021}}</ref><ref name=Ge23>{{cite news |last1=Gerth |first1=Jeff |title=The Press Versus the President |url=https://www.cjr.org/special_report/trumped-up-press-versus-president-part-3.php|location=New York|work=Columbia Journalism Review |publisher=Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism |date=30 January 2023}}</ref>
In November 2019, Maté suggested that former CIA director John Brennan had impure reasons for the investigation into Russian links in a November 2019 article for Real Clear Investigations.<ref name="WM20191119">{{cite news|last=LeTourneau|first=Nancy|url=https://washingtonmonthly.com/2019/11/19/republicans-will-launch-a-campaign-to-lie-distract-and-blame/|title=Republicans Will Launch a Campaign to Lie, Distract, and Blame|work=Washington Monthly|date=19 November 2019|access-date=28 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="RCI20191115">{{cite news|last=Maté|first=Aaron|url=https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2019/11/15/the_brennan_dossier_all_about_a_prime_mover_of_russiagate_121098.html|title=The Brennan Dossier: All About a Prime Mover of Russiagate|work=Real Clear Investigations|date=15 November 2019|access-date=28 May 2021|quote=Brennan, by his own account, has already outed himself as a key suspect.}}</ref>
In December 2019, Maté appeared on the Tucker Carlson Tonight talk show on Fox News and said that people "are accepting the claim that Russia hacked the DNC, even though there's been no evidence yet". Maté said that the "claims" came from "discredited intelligence officials". After numerous investigations into the 2016 election interference, U.S. intelligence agencies reported with "high confidence" that Russia was the culprit in the DNC cyberattacks.<ref name="Ecarma_12/4/2019">{{cite web | last=Ecarma | first=Caleb | title=Tucker Carlson Stunned When Guest Says 'No Evidence' Russia Hacked DNC in 2016 | website=Mediaite | date=December 4, 2019 | url=https://www.mediaite.com/tv/tucker-carlson-stunned-when-guest-says-no-evidence-russia-hacked-dnc-in-2016/ | access-date=February 28, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Musto_12/4/2019">{{cite web | last=Musto | first=Julia | title='Nation' reporter to Tucker: 'Strange to see' media pretending Ukraine meddling didn't happen | website=Fox News | date=December 4, 2019 | url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/nation-reporter-media-pretending-ukraine-meddling-didnt-happen | access-date=February 28, 2023}}</ref>
In May 2020, Maté stated: "All of the available evidence showed just how baseless [Russiagate] was". He said those who resisted Trump's administration were distracted by the "conspiracy theory that he conspired with or was blackmailed by Russia".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Halperin |first1=Daniel |last2=Dunlea |first2=Reed |last3=Halperin |first3=Daniel |title=Useful Idiots: Aaron Maté on New #Russiagate Bombshells |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/useful-idiots-taibbi-aaron-mate-russiagate-bombshells-1000646/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=13 May 2021 |date=15 May 2020 |quote=All of the available evidence showed just how baseless [Russiagate] was, and it was pretty clear that once it collapsed, it would hand Trump two gifts. First of all, it would give him the gift of throughout however long it took this thing to end, Trump's resistance being distracted into this dumb conspiracy theory that he conspired with or was blackmailed by Russia. And two, when it collapsed, it would give him the gift of vindication. And then, as more and more evidence came out as to how this whole thing started, Trump would be able to exploit it and use it for his re-election campaign, and say, 'Look at how these people tried to stop me and how they tried to take me down.' And basically use it as an excuse for being so awful on everything else. And now we're seeing that third phase," says Maté. }}</ref>
=== Douma and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons === Maté has questioned the Douma chemical attack, a 2018 chemical warfare attack launched in the city of Douma, Syria by the military of the Ba'athist regime led by Bashar al-Assad. Maté alleged that there has been a "cover up". His claims are based on his interpretation of private correspondence, released by WikiLeaks, between two former Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) inspectors, in which one said there was no evidence of chlorine being used as a weapon in Douma. According to the director general of the OPCW, Fernando Arias, the inspector's assumptions were wrong: the investigator had left his position with OPCW before it carried out most of its investigative work on Douma, and was unaware of the new technology the OPCW used to corroborate the allegation of a chemical weapons attack.<ref name="bc261020">{{cite web |title=Unpublished OPCW Douma Correspondence Casts Further Doubt on Claims of 'Doctored' Report |url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2020/10/26/unpublished-opcw-douma-correspondence-raises-doubts-about-transparency-of-opcw-leaks-promoters/ |website=Bellingcat |access-date=12 May 2021 |date=26 October 2020}}</ref>
In September 2020, Maté testified at the United Nations at an Arria meeting hosted by the Russian Federation and China, about the alleged cover-up by the OPCW.<ref name="bc261020"/> In April 2021, he spoke at another Russia-hosted UN event on the topic.<ref name="Deadly Disinformation">{{cite web | author=Institute for Strategic Dialogue|title=Deadly Disinformation:How online conspiracies about Syria cause real-world harm | website=ISD: Deadly Disinformation | date=13 July 2022| url=https://deadlydisinformation.org/ | access-date=1 March 2023|quote=Since 2020, Aaron Maté at the Grayzone has overtaken Beeley as the most prolific creators and spreader of disinformation among the 28 actors we investigated. An article that he wrote for the Grayzone where he attacks Bellingcat for its contributions to the OPCW was the most shared link in our data set in both 2020 and 2021. He, like Beeley, also appeared at the UN at the invitation of Russia, where he attempted to defend the Syrian government against accusations of chemical weapons use.... 16 April: Aaron Maté, a journalist at the Grayzone, speaks at “OPCW cover-up” event held at UNSC hosted by Russia... 23 June: Spike in repeated and recycled claims that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons investigation into the Douma chemical attack was flawed. According to ISD’s data, Aaron Maté spread these claims most frequently.}}</ref> In March 2023, he spoke at an Arria meeting organized by the Russian Federation as a briefer invited by the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations led by Vasily Nebenzia.<ref name="March 2023 Monthly Forecast 2023">{{cite web | title=Arria-formula Meeting on "Risks Stemming from the Politicization of the Activities of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons" : What's In Blue : Security Council Report | website=March 2023 Monthly Forecast | date=2023-03-23 | url=https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2023/03/arria-formula-meeting-on-risks-stemming-from-the-politicization-of-the-activities-of-the-organization-for-the-prohibition-of-chemical-weapons.php | access-date=2023-03-24}}</ref><ref name="Постоянное представительство Российской Федерации при ООН 2023">{{cite web | title=Remarks by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at meeting of UNSC members | website=Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations | date=2023-03-24 | url=https://russiaun.ru/en/news/opcw_240323 | access-date=2023-03-27|archive-date=2023-05-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511211152/https://russiaun.ru/en/news/opcw_240323}}</ref>
In May 2021, he accompanied Paul Larudee and other members of the Syria Solidarity Movement to observe the 2021 Syrian presidential election.<ref name="Whitaker 2018"/>
According to Muhammad Idrees Ahmad of ''New Lines Magazine'', in 2021 Maté "obscured Assad’s responsibility" for the destruction of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp. Ahmad accused Maté of "whitewashing of the murder of Palestinians in Yarmouk". According to Ahmad, Maté had previously criticized Forensic Architecture, a research group investigating Israeli war crimes, after the organization linked Assad to the Douma attack.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ahmad |first=Muhammad Idrees |date=2024-09-26 |title=Public Mistrust of Gaza Coverage Is Opening Space for Russia-Linked Media on the Left |url=https://newlinesmag.com/argument/public-mistrust-of-gaza-coverage-is-opening-space-for-russia-linked-media-on-the-left/ |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=New Lines Magazine |language=en}}</ref>
Maté and ''The Grayzone'', for which he reports, have been recipients of the Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees's Serena Shim Award.<ref name="Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism 2019">{{cite web | title=Laureates | website=Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism | date=5 March 2019 | url=https://serenashimaward.org/laureates/ | access-date=15 December 2021}}</ref> According to Brian Whitaker writing in ''New Lines'' ''Magazine'', some of the previous winners of the award advocated conspiracy theories and many supported the Syrian government.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Whitaker|first=Brian|date=4 November 2021|title=The 'Echo Chamber' of Syrian Chemical Weapons Conspiracy Theorists|url=https://newlinesmag.com/argument/the-echo-chamber-of-syrian-chemical-weapons-conspiracy-theorists/|access-date=14 December 2021|website=New Lines Magazine|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Whitaker 2018">{{cite web | last=Whitaker | first=Brian | title=Prizes galore! Assad supporters win awards for 'integrity' – with help from a piano tuner in California | website=al-bab.com | date=20 January 2018 | url=https://al-bab.com/blog/2021/07/prizes-galore-assad-supporters-win-awards-integrity | access-date=15 December 2021}}</ref>
In June 2022, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) published an analysis of social media accounts, individuals, outlets and organisations who disseminated disinformation about the Syrian conflict. Maté is said in the report to be the most prolific spreader of disinformation about the Syrian conflict since 2020 among the 28 actors the group investigated.<ref name="Deadly Disinformation"/><ref name="Observer2022">{{cite news|last=Townsend |first=Mark | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/19/russia-backed-network-of-syria-conspiracy-theorists-identified| title=Network of Syria conspiracy theorists identified | newspaper=The Observer | date=19 June 2022 | access-date=17 July 2022}}</ref> In a footnote added the following month to the London ''Observer'' article about the ISD report, Maté was quoted as saying "neither the study nor the Observer offer any evidence" for the assertion he is a spreader of disinformation and that the Institute for Strategic Dialogue "does not even attempt to refute a single claim of mine". Maté also alleged a conflict of interest because the ISD's funders included some western governments involved in the Syrian conflict.<ref name="Observer2022" />
=== Other journalism and commentary === In November 2020, Maté said that the appointment of Antony Blinken as Secretary of State and the possible nomination of Michèle Flournoy as Defense Secretary, showed that President-elect Joe Biden was "continuing with the hawkish playbook" he had followed throughout his career.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Homan |first1=Timothy R. |title=Journalist Aaron Maté discusses foreign policy for the incoming Biden administration |url=https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/527637-journalist-aaron-mate-discusses-foreign-policy-for-the-incoming-biden |access-date=18 May 2021 |work=The Hill |date=27 November 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
In February 2021, Maté was the first to report that Amnesty International had removed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny's status as a prisoner of conscience "given the fact that he advocated violence and discrimination and has not yet retracted such statements".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/VideoAlexeiNavalnyComparesMuslimsToCockroaches|title="Video: Alexei Navalny Compares Muslims to Cockroaches, Supports Gun Rights in Russia"|year=2007 }}</ref><ref name="Gessen">{{cite magazine |last=Gessen |first=Masha |date=24 February 2021 |title=Why Won't Amnesty International Call Alexey Navalny a Prisoner of Conscience? |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/why-wont-amnesty-international-call-alexey-navalny-a-prisoner-of-conscience |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=24 April 2022}}</ref><ref name="Carroll 2021">{{cite news |last=Carroll |first=Oliver |title=Anger after Amnesty strips Navalny of 'prisoner of conscience' status |website=The Independent |date=24 February 2021|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/navalny-amnesty-russia-putin-kremlin-b1806712.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224173222/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/navalny-amnesty-russia-putin-kremlin-b1806712.html |archive-date=24 February 2021 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |access-date=27 May 2021|quote=[Criticisms of Navalny] have been amplified in a broad network of Kremlin-sympathising media at home and abroad. These outlets include ''Grayzone'', an opaquely funded leftist publication based in the United States, which appears to have been privy to lobbying around the Amnesty decision. It was an author of ''Grayzone'', Aaron Mate, who first reported the rethink in a tweet showing a screenshot of an email sent from Amnesty to a redacted name. Mr Mate's editorial boss, Max Blumenthal, is a regular contributor to RT and Sputnik.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Amnesty's removal of Navalny's 'prisoner of conscience' status sparks Twitter storm |url=https://jam-news.net/amnestys-removal-of-navalnys-prisoner-of-conscience-status-sparks-outcry-and-controversy/ |access-date=18 May 2021 |work=English Jamnews |date=25 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Amnesty International rescinds Alexey Navalny's 'prisoner of conscience' status because of past 'hate speech,' following rumored 'campaign' by individuals tied to Russia Today |url=https://meduza.io/en/news/2021/02/23/amnesty-international-rescinds-alexey-navalny-s-prisoner-of-conscience-status-because-of-past-hate-speech-following-rumored-campaign-by-individuals-tied-to-russia-today |access-date=18 May 2021 |work=Meduza |date=24 February 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Oliver Carroll wrote in ''The Independent'' that ''The Grayzone'' had "amplified" criticism of Navalny and "appears to have been privy to lobbying around the Amnesty decision".<ref name="Carroll 2021" />
Maté was critical of President Biden's response to Israel's attack on Gaza in May 2021. Maté said Biden's telephone call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which Biden expressed his "unwavering support" for Israel's "right to defend itself", was "a green light for Netanyahu to continue massacring Palestinian civilians".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wilkins |first1=Brett |title=As Biden Blasted for 'Green Light' to Israel's Gaza Slaughter, House Dems Praised for Urging US Peace Push |url=https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/05/12/biden-blasted-green-light-israels-gaza-slaughter-house-dems-praised-urging-us-peace |access-date=18 May 2021 |work=Common Dreams |date=12 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
In an interview with Russell Brand, Maté said that the allegation of antisemitism was made against Jeremy Corbyn to delegitimise him and "to undermine criticism of Israel", since "the establishment actually can’t counter Jeremy Corbyn’s actual arguments and his real views". Maté said Corbyn made a mistake by tolerating the allegation and giving it "weight that it didn’t deserve".<ref name="Bloch_8/15/2022" />
Maté said that the Ukrainian Government, which came to power after the Maidan revolution, was a "fascist-infused coup". Regarding the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said that the US was funding "proxy warfare" against Russia and preventing any prospect of peace for its own ends.<ref name="The Irish Times 2022">{{cite news |title=Web Summit cancels invitations to two speakers following 'pro-Russian' backlash |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=2022-10-28 |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2022/10/28/web-summit-cancels-invitations-to-two-speakers-following-pro-russian-backlash/ |access-date=2022-12-14}}</ref>
According to Chris York of ''New Lines Magazine'', in May 2022, Maté said the link between Payton Gendron, the perpetrator of the 2022 Buffalo shooting, and Ukraine's Azov Brigade showed the U.S. was "allying with neo-Nazis" in order to "use Ukraine to fight a proxy war against Russia". Gendron was pictured wearing clothing emblazoned with the neo-Nazi "sonnenrad" symbol, which had previously been used by the Azov Brigade. York called the link "tenuous" and wrote that Gendron had previously expressed anti-Ukraine views on Discord and had cited ''Mintpress News'', which York described as pro-Russian, in his manifesto.<ref>{{Cite web |last=York |first=Chris |date=2022-05-24 |title=The Pro-Russian Attempt to Link the Buffalo Shooting to Ukraine |url=https://newlinesmag.com/argument/the-pro-russian-attempt-to-link-the-buffalo-shooting-to-ukraine/ |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=New Lines Magazine |language=en}}</ref>
In February 2023, ''The Bulwark'' website published an article by Cathy Young in which she accused Maté of sharing a deceptively cut video of an interview by Israel's ex-PM, Naftali Bennett, in which he talked about the breakdown in peace negotiations during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to Maté, Bennett said that Russia and Ukraine reached a preliminary peace agreement early in the war but the US rejected it. According to Young, Bennett said the peace talks stalled after the Bucha massacre.<ref name="Young 2023">{{cite web |last=Young |first=Cathy |title=No, Elon, the U.S. Didn't Scuttle a Ukraine Peace Deal |website=The Bulwark |date=2023-02-08 |url=https://www.thebulwark.com/no-the-united-states-and-its-allies-did-not-blow-up-a-ukraine-russia-peace-deal/ |access-date=2023-02-14}}</ref>
In 2022, Maté stated that the US had no evidence of a "Uyghur genocide" and said that Michelle Bachelet, the head of OHCHR, had "failed to find a genocide" during her trip to Xinjiang.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2023-03-27 |title=How pro-Russia and pro-China influencers cross-promote state narratives |url=https://dfrlab.org/2023/03/27/how-pro-russia-and-pro-china-influencers-cross-promote-state-narratives/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=DFRLab |language=en-US}}</ref> Writing for ''Haaretz'', Alexander Reid Ross criticized Maté for sharing a report by the Italian Eurasian Mediterranean Research Center that denied there was persecution in Xinjiang. According to Ross, the Center is connected to Claudio Mutti, who, he said, has been described as a "Nazi-Maoist" blending neo-fascism with far-left ideologies.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ross |first=Alexander Reid |date=July 27, 2021 |title=Meet 'leftist' Grayzone’s new neo-fascist allies in denying China’s genocide of Uyghurs {{!}} Opinion |url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2021-07-27/ty-article-opinion/.premium/grayzone-genocide-denial-meet-the-u-s-authoritarian-lefts-neo-fascist-allies/0000017f-f30e-d8a1-a5ff-f38e6cc30000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220613065206/https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2021-07-27/ty-article-opinion/.premium/grayzone-genocide-denial-meet-the-u-s-authoritarian-lefts-neo-fascist-allies/0000017f-f30e-d8a1-a5ff-f38e6cc30000#selection-1235.4-1235.50 |archive-date=June 13, 2022 |access-date=2026-02-05 |work=Haaretz |language=en}}</ref>
The Canadian University of Calgary's School of Public Policy published a list of "Russian-influenced" social media accounts, which included Maté.<ref name="Boucher p=Vol. 15 No. 1 (2022)">{{cite journal | last=Boucher | first=Jean-Christophe | title=Disinformation and Russia-Ukrainian War on Canadian Social Media | journal=The School of Public Policy Publications | year=2022 | volume=15 | issue=1 | doi=10.11575/SPPP.V15I1.75449 | url=https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/sppp/article/view/75449 | access-date=12 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="Passage 2022">{{cite web | title=Political Discourse In The West Is Broken | website=Passage | date=2022-08-31 | url=https://readpassage.com/political-discourse-in-the-west-is-broken/ | access-date=2023-03-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://newlinesmag.com/argument/public-mistrust-of-gaza-coverage-is-opening-space-for-russia-linked-media-on-the-left/|title=Coverage Is Opening Space for Russia-Linked Media on the Left|date=26 September 2024 |publisher=newlinesmag}}</ref> According to the Brookings Institution, in 2023, Maté's twitter posts were the 15th most re-tweeted posts by Russian state-backed accounts.<ref>Brandt, Jessican, and Valerie Wirtschafter (2022) ''[https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/FP_20221216_russia_propaganda_brandt_wirtschafter.pdf Working the Western hemisphere: how Russia spreads propaganda about Ukraine in Latin America and the impact of platform responses].'' Brookings Institution.</ref>
== Publications ==
* ''Cold War, Hot War: How Russiagate Created Chaos from Washington to Ukraine''. OR Books, 2022. (monography) {{ISBN|978-1682193655}}
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
== External links == {{Commons category}} * [https://www.thenation.com/authors/aaron-mate/ Aaron Maté in ''The Nation''] * [https://mate.substack.com/ Aaron Maté]'s newsletter
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mate, Aaron}} Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century Canadian Jews Category:21st-century Canadian journalists Category:21st-century Canadian male journalists Category:Jewish activists for Palestinian solidarity Category:Anti-Zionist Jews Category:Canadian columnists Category:Canadian expatriates in the United States Category:Canadian investigative journalists Category:Canadian magazine journalists Category:Canadian male bloggers Category:Canadian male non-fiction writers Category:Canadian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Category:Canadian political commentators Category:Canadian political journalists Category:Canadian political writers Category:Concordia University alumni Category:Foreign policy writers Category:Jewish Canadian journalists Category:Jewish Canadian non-fiction writers Category:Journalists from British Columbia Category:People of the Syrian civil war Category:Writers on the Middle East Category:Canadian activists for Palestinian solidarity