London Mayor Sadiq Khan called out President Trump for being racist, sexist, Islamophobic, and more after Trump accused him of wanting to “go to sharia law” in his United Nations General Assembly speech on Tuesday.
“I look at London where you have a terrible mayor, a terrible, terrible mayor and it’s been changed, it’s been so changed. Now they want to go to sharia law, but you’re in a different country, you can’t do that,” Trump said about halfway through his hour-long speech. Khan, very much on the center-left, is London’s first ever Muslim mayor. Trump’s assertion that he wants to instill sharia law in London is nothing more than a lazy, racist dog whistle.
Khan struck back accordingly.
“People are wondering what it is about this Muslim mayor who leads a liberal, multicultural, progressive and successful city, that means I appear to be living rent-free inside Donald Trump’s head,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “I think President Trump has shown he is racist, he is sexist, he is misogynistic, and he is Islamophobic. When people say things, when people act in a certain way, when people behave in a certain way, you’ve got to believe them.”
This is far from the first time Trump has singled out Khan. Just last month, he began to criticize Khan so harshly that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was next to Trump, felt the need to defend Khan, telling the president, “He’s a friend of mine, actually.”
It’s no coincidence that Trump has unprovoked smoke for London’s first and only Muslim mayor while the U.K.’s right wing (and Elon Musk) continue to sow Islamophobia, as they call to end immigration from Muslim-majority countries and even try to ban burqas.
Khan and his administration remain unfazed.
“London is the greatest city in the world, safer than major U.S. cities,” a spokesman for Khan said. “And we’re delighted to welcome the record number of U.S. citizens moving here.”
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