The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has called Donald Trump “racist” and “Islamophobic” in response to a swipe by the U.S. president at the leader of the British capital.
Khan’s remarks followed Trump telling the United Nations that the U.K. capital had a “terrible, terrible mayor” whose city is embracing “Sharia law.”
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment.
Why It Matters
Khan’s comments up the ante in a feud dating back nearly a decade. Since his first presidency, Trump has called Khan a “stone cold loser” and accused him of not doing enough on crime in London. In turn, Khan has disparaged Trump, calling him “ill informed,” opposing his first state visit to the UK and criticizing his stance on issues such as climate change.
What To Know
During his U.N. address on Tuesday, Trump said that illegal aliens were pouring into Europe and that leaders were not doing anything about it.
He then took a swipe at London who he said had a “terrible, terrible mayor” adding, “now they want to go to Sharia law but you’re in a different country. You can’t do that.”
It is unclear what Trump’s Sharia law reference meant about London where around 15 percent of the population follow Islam, but it could be a swipe at Khan’s Muslim faith.
In response, Khan told Sky News he was a Muslim mayor leading a liberal, multicultural, progressive, successful city and he appeared to be “living rent-free inside Donald Trump’s head.”
Khan also said that the U.S. president “has shown he is racist, he is sexist, he is misogynistic and he’s Islamophobic” and defended his record as mayor, highlighting the record numbers of American tourists visiting the U.K. capital.
When asked if he thought that U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer should be making such an effort in befriending Trump, Khan said that there were advantages in the so-called “special relationship” between the U.S. and the U.K. in trade and military ties.
But he said it should also mean you have the confidence call them out when they’re wrong, adding that “President Trump is wrong in many, many ways.”
In 2017, Khan said Trump was “ill informed” following the president’s criticism of the mayor in the aftermath of terror attacks in the city that killed seven people and injured at least 48 others.
In 2018, the London mayor approved the “Trump baby blimp” protest and the U.S. president called him a “stone cold loser,” an epithet he repeated in 2019 ahead of his state visit.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump, at the United Nations: “I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor, terrible, terrible mayor. And it’s been so changed, so changed. Now they want to go to Sharia law, but you’re in a different country. You can’t do that.”
London mayor Sadiq Khan to Sky News: “I think, you know, President Trump has shown he is racist, he is sexist, he is misogynistic and he’s Islamophobic … I think President Trump is wrong in many, many ways.”
What Happens Next
Trump has not yet responded to Khan’s jibe and there will be anticipation over whether the pair will continue to swap insults.
