Speaking to CNN, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, insinuated President Trump is a white racist, saying, “The concern that we have is … when President Trump talks about America First — does he really mean white America first? That’s a big concern for many of us.”
Khan added of Trump that “on many, many occasions … gives us the impression that all he cares about is white America … When you see … the President of the USA calling people rapists because they happen to be Mexican, having a travel ban against people of my faith, that leads to huge concerns across the world.”
Referencing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, Khan continued, “You’ve got politicians in the UK and those in the far-right copying Donald Trump. There are people here who mimic him and copy him and he gives them succor. He gives them confidence and views that used to be in the periphery, people who used to be in the margins, are in the mainstream … In Hungary, look at Orban. In Poland, look at Duda, in Italy, look at Salvini, in France, look at Le Pen.”
CNN reported that Khan said Trump’s methods elicited “fears being stoked against minority communities … It’s the very opposite of what NATO is all about … It’s the very opposite of what the EU is all about. The very opposite of the multi-lateralism that the US and the UK have led on for the last 70 years.”
Khan has been an outspoken foe of Trump for some time; in June 2019, he called Trump a six-foot-three child. Speaking at the Together for Education event at Central Hall in Westminster, Khan mocked, “For those of you that have your phones on, if somebody starts tweeting about me – a 6ft 3 child in the White House – can you let me know?”
In an op-ed he wrote in The Observer the same month, Khan asserted:
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 seventy years … And they are gaining ground and winning power and influence in places that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
In July 2017, Khan said Trump should not get a full state visit to the UK, stating, “State visits are different from a normal visit and at a time when the President of the USA has policies that many in our country disagree with, I am not sure it is appropriate for our government to roll out the red carpet. If you somehow think it is not possible to be a Muslim and a proud westerner I am happy to disabuse you of that idea, whether you are a reporter for CNN or Donald Trump.”
After becoming mayor, Khan told the BBC, “Donald Trump’s ignorant view of Islam could make both our countries less safe: It risks alienating mainstream Muslims around the world and plays into the hands of the extremists.”