London Mayor Sadiq Khan — who has seen a number of terror attacks strike the city since he took office in May 2016 — has compared Donald Trump to ISIS in another attack on the U.S. President.
At a Guardian Live event in Brighton, Khan spoke of his anger at the President’s call for an anti-terror travel ban including several Muslim countries, and of Trump’s quip that he would make an exception for the Labour politician.
“My view was firstly ‘I’m not exceptional’ and secondly ‘Think about what you are saying.’ Because what you are saying is not dissimilar to what Daesh or so-called IS says.
“They say that there is a clash of civilisations, it is not possible to be a Muslim and a westerner, and the west hates us. And you are inadvertently playing their game, you are helping them.”
According to the Sun, the mayor said a travel ban on majority-Muslim nations gave the “wrong impression” of Islam, and claimed Trump’s knowledge of the religion was limited.
“I’m happy to educate people who are ignorant,” Khan told Guardian editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, adding that American Muslims had made a great contribution as students, artists and politicians.
“I’m a westerner, but also a very proud Muslim. There are some people who want to divide our communities – I’m not going to let them.”
The London mayor repeated his previous demands for the cancellation of Trump’s state visit next year, declaring: “I think at a time when the President of the United States is doing and saying so many things that we disagree with, the idea of just rolling out the red carpet and having a state visit is wrong.”
At the Labour party conference event, Khan also spoke in favour of cutting the number of white men in parliament by using what he called “hybrid” shortlists.
According to the Guardian, these would consist of women and people from ethnic minorities, when selecting candidates to become MPs.
The Labour figure first demanded Trump’s state visit be cancelled in June, after the president slammed Khan for telling London residents there is “no reason to be alarmed” following the London Bridge terror attack which killed seven and injured dozens more.
He again repeated the call in July, claiming Britons oppose the U.S. President’s policies, and that because of this he argued it would not be “appropriate” for the President to make a state visit.