Sadiq Khan reignites feud with Donald Trump as he accuses US President of ‘fanning flames of the far-right’
By Matt Watts
Copyright standard
Sadiq Khan has launched a series of attacks on Donald Trump as he reignited their feud for the the US President’s historic second state visit.
On Wednesday the London mayor doubled-down on his scathing criticism of the president in an opinion piece he wrote for the Guardian newspaper.
In the piece, published a few hours before Trump landed as Stansted airport on Tuesday evening, Mr Khan said the US President “deliberately used xenophobia, racism and ‘otherness’ as an electoral tactic”.
He said: “President Donald Trump and his coterie have perhaps done the most to fan the flames of divisive, far-right politics around the world in recent years.”
He highlighted the Tommy Robinson protest in London on Saturday where up to 150,000 marched through central London saying: “the scenes we saw didn’t come from nowhere.”
He said the scenes were the an effect of politicians “refusing to condemn the rising tide of hatred in this country, instead choosing to dabble in dog-whistle politics and dangerous rhetoric themselves”.
In a fresh attack Mr Khan shared the piece online on Wednesday, adding: “President Trump has fanned the flames of the far-right. And now a toxic form of politics is spilling out onto our streets. These are dark times, but those who seek to divide us will not win.”
In a separate post on Instagram he said: “ Here in London, hate will never win. “
The attack by Sadiq Khan is the latest in a war of words between the London mayor and the US president in recent years.
The mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan,was criticised by Mr Trump earlier this year as “a nasty person” who has “done a terrible job”.
Mr Trump and Sir Sadiq’s long-running row started during the US president’s first term, with Sir Sadiq railing against his pledge to ban Muslims from the US.
Mr Trump described Sir Sadiq as “a stone-cold loser” and “very dumb”.
He is yet to respond to the London Mayor’s latest comments.
A huge anti-Trump protest is expected in London on Wednesday as the US President is hosted by the King at Windsor Castle on the first full day of his state visit.
