Trump and Sadiq Khan: Trump Is Being a Tool
It's not very highbrow of me, I know. But, my goodness, Trump, as President of the US, is being an utter tool.
Sadiq Khan is the left-wing (Labour) Muslim Mayor of London. Trump has never liked him for those qualities. Trump appears to have it in for people called Khan.
It all started when Khan stated in an interview that being prepared for a terrorist attack is part and parcel of living in a big, global city. This was widely misreported by everyone as saying terrorism itself is part and parcel of living in such a city. There is a subtle difference here.
Trump Jr. tweeted:
You have to be kidding me?!: Terror attacks are part of living in big city, says London Mayor Sadiq Khan
This was tweeted just after the first London terror attack from a few months back, but the interview was from last year in respoonse to a New York incident, and I don't think Trump Jr. knew this. This was met with some distaste, as the Guardian reported:
“You use a terrorist attack on our city to attack London’s Mayor for your own political gain. You’re a disgrace,” Streeting wrote.
“Is this helpful @DonaldJTrumpJr?” tweeted Ciaran Jenkins, a correspondent with Channel 4 News. “Did you even read the article before goading London’s Mayor during a live incident?”
“Headline is based on very first sentence, which if you’d bothered to read it could apply to any major city in the world,” Jenkins added.
Others on Twitter pointed Trump Jr to Khan’s actual response to the attack on Wednesday, in which he said: “Londoners will never be cowed by terrorism.”
Donald Trump himself got involved, after Khan sought to calm Londoners who would see an increase in armed police:
“Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. There's no reason to be alarmed.”
Taking it out of context, Trump rebuked:
“At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is 'no reason to be alarmed!'”
Adding, quite stupidly:
“Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? That's because they used knives and a truck!”
European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, Simon O’Connor wrote in response to Trump’s message:
“Try to imagine the UK prime minister attacking the Mayor of NYC the day after 9/11.”
Former British Ambassador to the US, Sir Christopher Meyer, stated:
“World leaders call for unity. Trump tweets the complete opposite… Let me be diplomatic. Trump makes me puke.
The spat has some history as Khan criticised Trump's travel ban, the end result being Trump challenging Khan to an IQ test after Khan said Trump's views on Islam were ignorant.
What is fascinating is that the US Ambassador to London, Lewis Lukens, seems to have subtly ripped into his own president today:
"I commend the strong leadership of the @MayorofLondon as he leads the city forward after this heinous attack. – LLukens 3/3"
This is a worry for US politics when such important people diverge in thinking from POTUS.
Trump just can't let things go when he really, really should, as he got another tweet in this morning:
"Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his "no reason to be alarmed" statement. MSM [mainstream media] is working hard to sell it!"
This is the President of the United States attacking the Mayor of the capital of his closest ally just after the city has been attacked for the second time in months, and a few weeks after Manchester had also suffered. I often wonder, what would Obama do (WWOD)?
Not this by any stretch of anyone's imagination.
Trump is a dreadfully unprofessional tool.