 "Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, arrives for the launching of a new poster campaign, in central London, on March 25, 2024, ahead of the London mayoral elections. (Photo: Daniel Leal/AFP)")
Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan of London has slammed US President Donald Trump over the speech at the UN General Assembly in which he trashed Khan, London, and Muslim migrants in the United Kingdom. He said that Trump’s speech was “racist, sexist, misogynistic” and “Islamophobic”.
Instead of foreign policy or international relations, Trump devoted most of his rambling hourlong speech at the UNGA on Tuesday to rail against migrants, European liberal order, and European politician. He called Khan a “terrible” mayor and said Muslim migrants in the UK under him were seeking Islamic sharia law.
“And I have to say, I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor, terrible, terrible mayor. And it’s been so changed, so changed. Now they want to go to Sharia law, but you’re in a different country. You can’t do that,” said Trump.
In his anti-migrant speech, Trump blamed them for crims across the world, including rape of women and kidnapping of children. He said that “thousands of people a week were dying, women were being raped”.
Trump further said, “Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. Raped horribly, beaten, raped. On the trip up, the journey up, it was a long, it was long walk, a long arduous journey indeed.”
As Trump has repeatedly gone after Khan over the years, he said that it appears he lives rent-free in Trump’s head.
“People are wondering what it is about this Muslim mayor who leads a liberal, multicultural, progressive, successful city that means I appear to be living rent-free inside Donald Trump’s head,” Khan told Sky News.
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When asked if the speech was Islamophobic, Khan said it was.
“Listen, when people say things, when people act in a certain way, when people behave in a certain way, you’ve got to believe them. I think President Trump has shown he is racist, he is sexist, he is misogynistic, and he’s Islamophobic,” Khan told Sky News.
Rejecting the charge that London had descended to being a terrible city during his tenure, Khan said that a record number of Americans were coming to London and there must be a reason for that.
“There must be a reason for that. You look at a number of different criteria, we’re often the number one city in the globe when it comes to culture, when it comes to foreign investment, when it comes to sports, when it comes to the ability of people to fulfil their potential. I’m really proud we are the greatest city in the world, long may that continue,” said Khan.