May attacks far-right Trump tweets
President hits back against PM’S criticism for endorsing videos from Britain First leader
DONALD TRUMP has hit back at Theresa May after she condemed him for promoting anti-islamic hate videos posted by a British far-right leader. The Prime Minister’s spokesman branded the president “wrong” for sharing three “hateful” videos with his 43.6 million followers on Twitter.
Mr Trump last night hit back at Mrs May. Addressing her directly on Twitter he wrote: “Theresa, 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!”
Mrs May is now under pressure to withdraw the invitation of a state visit for Mr Trump, with one government source suggesting such a trip had been “kicked into grass as long as it can get”.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, added his voice to the condemnation, urging Mr Trump to delete the retweets.
The offensive videos were posted by Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of Britain First, an extremist organisation that has carried out “mosque invasions”.
Ms Fransen faces charges in two courts for racially aggravated harassment and using threatening and abusive language. The 31-year-old from Penge, south-east London, said she was delighted to have received Mr Trump’s endorsement. The first of Ms Fransen’s videos retweeted by Mr Trump early yesterday morning purported to show an attack on a teenager by a Muslim youth and was captioned “Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!”
Dutch newspapers reported last night that the incident was filmed last May in a town outside Amsterdam but that there was no evidence the attacker was Muslim or an immigrant.
Another video captioned “an Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!” showed fouryear-old footage of a riot in Egypt in which a 17-year-old was thrown from an apartment block. The third video from 2015 was of an al-qaeda militant in Syria smashing a Virgin Mary statue.
After consulting Mrs May, who is on a trip to the Middle East, her spokesman issued a statement condemning Mr Trump. The spokesman said: “Britain First seeks to divide communities through their use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions. They cause anxiety to law-abiding people. British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far-right, which is the antithesis of the values that this country represents – decency, tolerance and respect. It is wrong for the president to have done this.”
The criticism by Mrs May of Mr Trump has ratcheted up tensions ahead of a likely visit to London in 2018. Mrs May offered Mr Trump a state visit shortly after his election victory last year. Downing Street said
yesterday that the invitation remained. The spokesman said: “The United States is one of our oldest and closest allies – an invitation for a state visit has been extended and accepted and further details will be announced in due course.”
Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, said the tweets were “abhorrent, dangerous and a threat to our society”.
Brendan Cox, widower of Jo Cox, the Labour MP murdered by a Right-wing extremist, voiced his disgust. “Trump has legitimised the far-right in his own country, now he’s trying to do it in ours,” he said.
Calling on Mr Trump to clarify his opposition to racism and hatred, the Archbishop said: “It is deeply disturbing that the president of the United States has chosen to amplify the voice of far-right extremists.”
Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, said: “Britain First is a divisive, hateful group whose views are not in line with our values.”
Last night Sajid Javid, the Communities Secretary, also attacked Mr Trump.
He wrote on Twitter: “So [Trump] has endorsed the views of a vile, hatefilled racist organisation that hates me and people like me. He is wrong and I refuse to let it go and say nothing.”
A government source suggested the state visit would be kicked into the long grass, saying: “The grass has just got as long as the grass can get for him.”
The White House said it was irrelevant whether the videos were genuine. Sarah Sanders, the president’s press secretary, said: “I think you’re focusing on the wrong thing. The threat is real and that’s what the president is talking about… there’s nothing fake about that.” Raj Shah, principal deputy press secretary, said: “We have the greatest respect, the president has the greatest respect, for the British people and for Prime Minister May.” He added that no state visit had yet been scheduled.