Retweeting a post by conservative commentator Katie Hopkins about this weekend's extensive violence in London, the president said Khan was "a disaster" and the capital needed a new mayor.
LONDON needs a new mayor ASAP. Khan is a disaster — will only get worse! https://t.co/n7qKI3BbD2
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 15 июня 2019 г.
Trump later followed his comment with another post, saying that the Mayor of London is “a national disgrace who is destroying the city of London!”
He is a national disgrace who is destroying the City of London! https://t.co/l3qcUS17jh
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 15 июня 2019 г.
Khan's spokesman said the mayor's thoughts were with the victims' families and that he is focusing on supporting the city's communities and "over-stretched" emergency services, and he "is not going to waste his time responding to this sort of tweet".
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, however, did weigh in, tweeting in defence of Khan, saying he was "rightly supporting the police to do their job while Katie Hopkins spreads hateful and divisive rhetoric".
Absolutely awful to see @realDonaldTrump using the tragedy of people being murdered to attack the Mayor. @SadiqKhan is rightly supporting the police to do their job while Katie Hopkins spreads hateful and divisive rhetoric. They seek to divide at a time we need to come together. https://t.co/Se3fgWDXUZ
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) 15 июня 2019 г.
The tweet came after five attacks in London in less than 24 hours left three men dead and three others injured. Police have made 14 arrests, including several boys and a girl, following the attacks. The deaths take the total number of murders in London in 2019 to 56. This time last year there had been 77 homicides, 48 of which were stabbings.
The US President and the mayor of London have clashed many times in the past. Shortly before Trump’s visit to the UK Khan published a column describing Trump’s rhetoric as being like that of “XX century fascists” and suggested that the UK should not be "rolling out the red carpet" for him. Trump in return called Khan a "stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London”. They also disagreed on the mayor’s response to the London Bridge attack in 2017.
