Trump retweets videos alleging Muslim attacks

Action criticized by British prime minister

WASHINGTON – President Trump’s retweets of several videos depicting alleged physical attacks carried out by Muslims — originally posted by the deputy leader of Britain First, a far-right anti-immigration political party — earned the president rebukes from the British government and Muslim groups worldwide.

Critics including British Prime Minister Theresa May accused Trump of trying to stir up anti-Muslim sentiment by retweeting the unverified videos posted by Jayda Fransen with the captions: “VIDEO: Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!”; “VIDEO: Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!”; “VIDEO: Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!”

White House officials said Trump was underscoring the issue of violence by Muslim migrants in Europe.

“These are real threats we have to talk about,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said, dismissing questions about the veracity of the videos after reports that one perpetrator is not a Muslim. “Whether it is a real video, the threat is real.”

May’s office criticized Trump for retweeting videos from Britain First, an organization it said seeks to “divide communities” through “hateful narratives” and lies.

Trump did not provide a reason or additional commentary on the videos.

Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Trump’s “unconscionable and irresponsible” tweets “amount to incitement to violence against American Muslims.”