US President Donald Trump has renewed his attacks on London Mayor Sadiq Khan, describing him as a “national disgrace” and calling for his immediate removal from the post following a recent spate of violent deaths in the British capital. RNA - Trump launched his fresh attack Saturday on Khan, backing Katie Hopkins, a right-wing British columnist who has been widely accused of Islamophobia and once called migrants "cockroaches."
Retweeting a post by Hopkins about this weekend's brutal attacks in London, the US president called Khan "a disaster" and said the capital needed a new mayor.
LONDON needs a new mayor ASAP. Khan is a disaster - will only get worse! https://t.co/n7qKI3BbD2
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2019
Trump later followed his comment with another post, claiming that Khan is “a national disgrace who is destroying the city of London!”
He is a national disgrace who is destroying the City of London! https://t.co/l3qcUS17jh
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2019
Khan’s office immediately hit back at Trump’s tweets and said the London mayor's thoughts were with the victims' families.
The office stated that the mayor “is not going to waste his time responding” as he remains busy supporting the “overstretched emergency services” following the London attacks.
“Violent crime has no place in our city, and there’s no higher priority for me than Londoners’ safety,” Khan's office added.
Three people were stabbed and shot and as many injured in separate attacks in the British capital in less than 24 hours. Police have made 14 arrests, including several boys and a girl, following the assaults.
Hopkins had called London a “Stab-City,” and “Khan’s Londonistan.”
Meanwhile, Britain's opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn took sides with Khan and said it was “absolutely awful” that Trump was “using the tragedy of people being murdered to attack the Mayor.”
“Absolutely awful to see @realDonaldTrump using the tragedy of people being murdered to attack the Mayor,” Corbyn tweeted. “@SadiqKhan is rightly supporting the police to do their job while Katie Hopkins spreads hateful and divisive rhetoric. They seek to divide at a time we need to come together.”
Absolutely awful to see @realDonaldTrump using the tragedy of people being murdered to attack the Mayor. @SadiqKhan is rightly supporting the police to do their job while Katie Hopkins spreads hateful and divisive rhetoric. They seek to divide at a time we need to come together. https://t.co/Se3fgWDXUZ
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) June 15, 2019
The American head of state and the London mayor have already clashed on several occasions, with Trump branding Khan a "stone cold loser" prior to his state visit to the UK earlier this month.
Khan, a Labour politician, was for his part a fierce critic of the British government's decision to "roll out the red carpet" for Trump.
847/940