Politics

British PM Snubs Khan Request to Cancel Presidential Visit

Trump Jr. says London mayor should 'keep calm and actually do something' about terror threat

Prime Minister Theresa May refused to acquiesce to a request from the mayor of London to cancel a planned visit by President Donald Trump in October — after the mayor and Trump sharply criticized one another over the issue of terrorism.

In the wake of a deadly terror attack Saturday evening in London, Trump rebuked London Mayor Sadiq Khan for his politically correct response and policies the president believes compromise the city’s security. Khan reacted by sharply criticizing the president.

“I don’t think we should roll out the red carpet to the president of the U.S.A. in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for,” Khan told Britain’s Channel 4 News on Monday. “Since Saturday I’ve been working with the police, emergency services, and government, among others, to deal with the horrific attacks. I haven’t got the time to respond to tweets from Donald Trump.”

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Responding to Trump’s tweets with “BBC Breakfast” on Tuesday, Khan doubled down even further on his request for Trump’s October invitation to be rescinded, admitting that “nothing has changed my mind” since he called for the invitation’s withdrawal after Trump introduced his travel-ban executive order earlier this year.

“Look, of course we should have cordial relations with our closest ally, of course we have a special relationship,” Khan said. “But one of the things about a special relationship – it’s like having best mates, you stand should to shoulder with them in times of adversity.”

“But you call them out when they’re wrong, and there are so many things Donald Trump is wrong about, and in those circumstances I’m not in favor of a state visit,” Khan reaffirmed.

On Tuesday, Khan also told the Associated Press, “I really don’t care” and “really couldn’t be bothered about what Donald Trump tweets.” He added, “literally millions and millions of Muslims around the world who [sic] love America.”

“They love Britain, they want to come here to study, to be a tourist, to start up a business, to work, to learn. Why would you want to stop them coming?” Khan continued.

Tim Farron, a Member of Parliament and the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, also echoed Khan’s calls, saying May’s “supine relationship” with Trump cannot stand because “Trump is an embarrassment to America.”

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“Sadiq Khan has shown dignity and leadership,” Farron said, according to the Independent. “Theresa May absolutely must withdraw the state visit. This is a man insulting our national values at a time of introspection and mourning.”

Trump originally tweeted Sunday, “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is “no reason to be alarmed!”

He added on Monday, “Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his ‘no reason to be alarmed’ statement. MSM is working hard to sell it!”

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Although May insisted that Trump’s Khan criticism was “wrong,” when the prime minister was asked Tuesday whether Trump’s invitation still stands, she told reporters, “Yes.”

“The relationship with America is our deepest and most important defense and security relationship,” May said, according to The Sun.

Adding that the U.K. has been working with Khan “to ensure the response was right and to get London moving again,” May noted, “We’ve been working with Sadiq Khan. When you’re working in the aftermath of an attack like that, party politics is put to one side.”

U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also dismissed Khan’s request Tuesday during an interview with BBC Radio 4’s “Today.”

“The invitation has been issued and accepted, and I see no reason to rescind that,” Johnson said.

Donald Trump, Jr. blasted Khan’s response to the London terror attack during an interview Tuesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” saying, “Rather than the mayor of London attacking, maybe he should do something about it.”

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“Maybe [Khan] should do something to fix the problem rather than just sit there and pretend there isn’t one. I think that’s an important message,” Trump Jr. said, noting that “every time [Trump] puts something out there he gets criticized by the media all day every day by everyone else and guess what? Two weeks later he’s proven to be right.”

“It happened again and we keep appeasing it and keep saying, ‘Okay, it’s going to be great. We’re going to hold fast and we’re going to keep calm and carry on,'” Trump Jr. added. “Maybe we have to keep calm and actually do something. And I think that’s what he’s trying to say because he’s been proven right every time.”

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), the former chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said Tuesday on “The Laura Ingraham Show” that Khan, London and the United Kingdom as a whole would do well to heed Trump’s warning to clamp down on radical Islamic terrorism. Although he, too, admitted that he didn’t think “the president should have attacked the mayor,” King accused Khan of “trying to exploit this by raising it to a different level.”

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“[Khan] should be concerned about London and not be talking about the international relationship between Prime Minister May and President Trump,” King said before rebuking the London mayor for his previous and often-repeated “feel-good-type comments” calling for tolerance and inclusion.

“The fact is, there is a hostile Muslim population in London. It may be a small percentage, but all you need is 10, 20, 50, 100, 1,000 people to cause incredible carnage,” King insisted. “And the reality is that they have some very radical mosques there. They do have a hostile population, and they’ve had thousands and thousands of Muslims from their country go to Syria to fight and come back.”

“So that is like an underground army within your own country, and many of them are living in the big cities like Manchester and London,” King added. “If anything good comes out of a horrible attack like this, it’s another vivid wake-up call that this is a war that the enemy is willing to fight against us as long as they can.”

Despite Khan’s calls for tolerance for the Muslim faith, King warned that the London mayor’s relative lack of effort in combating the threat of radical Islamic terrorism could lead to disastrous results.

“So we have to destroy [the enemy] as quickly as possible and not worry about political correctness. Do whatever we have to do,” King said. “And we can do it in this country within the Constitution. And to me, sensitivity and worrying about people’s feelings is not a constitutional issue. So the fact is, some people might be offended by what we do. There’s no reason not to do it.”

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