London Mayor Sadiq Khan accuses Donald Trump of criticizing him due to his ethnicity and Muslim faith, reigniting their long-standing feud that began over Trump's Muslim travel ban.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has made claims that Donald Trump's repeated criticisms of him are motivated by his ethnicity and Muslim faith. This fresh accusation is set to reignite their long-standing feud, which initially began during Trump's first presidency when Khan spoke out against the US travel ban targeting certain Muslim countries.
Trump slammed Khan for his handling of terrorism, calling him a "stone cold loser" and "very dumb". Khan retaliated by allowing a provocative blimp depicting Trump as a baby in a diaper to fly above Parliament Square during his 2018 UK visit.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan claims Trump only dislikes him because of the color of his skin and because he is Muslim.
“If I wasn’t this color skin, if I wasn’t a practicing Muslim, he wouldn’t have come for me….he was coming for me…because of my ethnicity and my religion.” pic.twitter.com/0ayOID3nU0
Khan, the first Muslim mayor of a Western capital and son of Pakistani immigrants, views Trump's attacks as personal. "If I wasn't this color skin, if I wasn't a practicing Muslim, he wouldn't have come for me," Khan stated in a podcast interview. He believes Trump targets him due to his ethnicity and religion, and feels a responsibility to speak out against Trump's policies, which he labels as sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, and racist.
Interestingly, Khan's stance contrasts with his Labour party colleagues, who have softened their tone since taking power in July. Foreign Secretary David Lammy called Trump, in his first reign, a "woman-hating, neo-Nazi sympathizing sociopath" but now dismisses those remarks as "old news". Prime Minister Keir Starmer is also seeking to establish a positive relationship with Trump, congratulating him on his election victory and describing their phone call as "very positive, very constructive".