Trump’s racist attack on London mayor causes political backlash

Senior British ministers have criticized US President Donald Trump for his racist attack on London Mayor Sadiq khan, urging him to stop interfering in the UK’s internal politics.

News ID: 445464

Date: 18 June 2019 - 16:08

RNA - Interior minister Sajid Javid said on Monday that Trump’s tweet a day earlier in which he had branded Khan a “disaster” for his inability to contain surging crime in London was “unbecoming” of the position of the US president.

Javid, an influential British politician of Pakistani Iranian origins and one of several candidates seeking to replace outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May, called on Trump to stop “interfering in another country’s domestic politics”.

Former Brexit minister Dominic Raab, also a key hopeful to replace May, said Trump’s actions were not “helpful, savory or constructive” while saying that he was “proud” to have a Muslim mayor of London.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove, a senior Conservative Party lawmaker, said it was a mistake that Trump had mentioned a British far-right figure in his online comments on Khan.

“I think it's always a mistake to retweet anything that Katie Hopkins tweets,” said Gove, making reference to Hopkins’s tweet in which she had called the British capital city under Khan as Londonistan.

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

International development secretary Rory Stewart also hinted that Trump’s comments were interventionist.

“You should be firm, you should talk about your national interests, you should talk about it politely, you should talk about it very clearly and you should do it privately,” he said.

Hunt 150 percent supportive

However, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt welcomed Trump’s statement on Khan, saying he was raising the point that instead of trying to make London a safer place, Khan is only thinking of advancing the political agenda of the opposition Labour Party.

“ ... in that I 150 percent agree with the president,” said Hunt who is second behind former foreign minister Boris Johnson in an internal race to become the next leader of the Conservative Party.

Hunt drew controversy last week when he supported Trump’s claims that Iran had been behind attacks on two oil tankers near the Persian Gulf waters.

Trump’s tweet about Khan came after three people were either shot or stabbed to death in London in a matter of one day last week. The American president had previously slammed Khan for his failure in tackling crime, especially during his early June visit to London where the two figures repeatedly clashed on the social media.

Khan and other senior Labour Party figures boycotted a royal banquet on June 4 attended by Trump, saying the divisive figure should have not been invited to the UK for a full-state visit because of his records in office.

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