Search icon

News

02nd Jun 2019

Sadiq Khan says Donald Trump is like a ’20th-century fascist’ ahead of president’s UK visit

JOE

The London mayor has attacked Donald Trump for the way he rallies his supporters on the eve of the president’s state visit

Sadiq Khan has said the rhetoric Donald Trump uses is like that of the “fascists of the 20th century” and that Britain should not be “rolling out the red carpet” ahead of the US president’s trip to the UK this week.

Writing in the Observer on Sunday, Khan said: “President Donald Trump is just one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat.

“The far-right is on the rise around the world, threatening our hard-won rights and freedoms and the values that have defined our liberal, democratic societies for more than 70 years.

“Viktor Orban in Hungary, Matteo Salvini in Italy, Marine Le Pen in France and Nigel Farage here in the UK are using the same divisive tropes of the fascists of the 20th century to garner support, but with new, sinister methods to deliver their message.”

Trump will arrive in London on Monday, having lunch with the Queen, and tea with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Clarence House. On Tuesday, he will have breakfast with Theresa May and business leaders.

Sadiq Khan and Donald Trump have previously been involved in a number of altercations on Twitter, with Trump having blamed the mayor for terror incidents in the capital.

JOE previously spoke to former neo-Nazi leader Josh Bates who claimed that Donald Trump’s rise to power had served as an inspiration to him and other white nationalists.

“Trump came along and emboldened the [white nationalist] 2.0 movements and even the 1.0 guys,” he said.

“He went up there and started talking about how they were murderers and rapists, and flooding the border.

“And all of these talking points, without being explicitly pro-white… everybody thought of him as an implicit nationalist.”

Topics:

News,Politics