The mayor of London slammed President Donald Trump on
Thursday for retweeting anti-Muslim propaganda from a British far-right party,
and suggested UK Prime Minister Theresa May shouldn't welcome Trump into their
country for a state visit.
The statement from Sadiq Khan adds another notable voice to
the growing list of leading British officials who have expressed outrage over
Trump's retweets, which have created an international incident and opened a
rift between the US and its closest ally.
Khan, who is Muslim, called Britain First, the far-right
party Trump retweeted on Wednesday, "a vile, extremist group that exists
solely to sow division and hatred in our country." He added that the
videos make it "increasingly clear that any official visit at all from
President Trump to Britain would not be welcomed."
Trump caused outrage in Britain by retweeting three videos
posted by Jayda Frandsen, the deputy leader of Britain First. The inflammatory
videos showed people purported to be Muslims carrying out assaults and, in one
video, smashing a statue of the Virgin Mary.
"Many Brits who love America and Americans will see
this as a betrayal of the special relationship between our two countries,"
Khan continued. "It beggars belief that the President of our closest ally
doesn't see that his support of this extremist group actively undermines the
values of tolerance and diversity that makes Britain so great."
Following Trump's retweets on Wednesday, a spokesperson for
May said Trump was "wrong" to share the videos.
Trump took aim at May following the statement, tweeting:
"@Theresa_May, don't focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic
Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just
fine!"
On Thursday, a spokesperson at Downing Street said May is
standing by her criticism of the President, but said the offer of a state visit
seems to be on track.
"The Prime Minister is very clear that it was wrong to
tweet those videos," the statement said. "But the US is one of our
longest, closest and most trusted allies. The offer of a state visit has been
extended and accepted. Further details will be set out in due course."
British Ambassador to the US Kim Darroch said Thursday he
raised his concerns about the tweets to the White House.
"British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced
rhetoric of the far right, which seek to divide communities & erode
decency, tolerance & respect. British Muslims are peaceful and law abiding
citizens. And I raised these concerns with the White House yesterday," Darroch
tweeted.
Trump and Khan have frequently traded barbs since Trump
decided to run for president.
In 2016, Khan said Trump "has ignorant views about
Islam." Trump proceeded to challenge Khan to an I.Q. test, adding that the
mayor had never met him and "doesn't know what I'm all about."
In another notable exchange earlier this year, Trump
appeared to misconstrue a statement by Khan in the mayor's response to a terror
attack in London.
"At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and
Mayor of London says there is 'no reason to be alarmed!'" Trump said.
Khan, however, was referring specifically to a visible
increase in police activity on the streets of London in the wake of the attack.
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