A far-left migrant appointed Lord Mayor of Sheffield in May “banned” U.S. President Donald J. Trump from the city in a social media post on America’s Independence Day.
“I Magid Magid, Lord Mayor & first citizen of this city hereby declare that not only is Donald J Trump (@realDonaldTrump) a WASTEMAN, but he is also henceforth banned from the great city of Sheffield!” declared the Green Party councillor, who also goes by ‘Magid Mah’ and ‘Magic Magid’.
“I further declare July 13th to be Mexico Solidarity Day!” he added, accompanying his tweet with a picture of himself squatting on a table wearing a pair of bright green boots, a t-shirt reading ‘DONALD TRUMP IS A WASTEMAN’, and a sombrero, along with his official chain of office.
The position of Lord Mayor is not directly elected and largely ceremonial, with office-holders expected to represent their municipalities at civic events. They are not empowered to ban visiting heads of state from their cities and are typically expected to maintain an appearance of political neutrality.
It is not clear whether President Trump had any plans to visit Sheffield, in any case. The city was once a key centre of Britain’s industrial production, famed for its high-quality steel, but has since waned in importance.
Magid’s stunt was criticised by Peter Whittle, a UKIP spokesman and member of the London Assembly, who commented: “What this joker fails to realise is that his antics make a total mockery of the people he is supposed to be representing.”
It is not the first time the 28-year-old Somali Muslim, who came to Britain as an asylum seeker as a child, has courted controversy, having vowed he “wouldn’t even do a toast to the Queen” if she visited Sheffield during his mayorship, and arguing that Britain’s constitutional monarchy should be abolished.
He also skipped the inauguration ceremony for a previous appointment to the position of Deputy Lord Mayor in order to appear in the television show Hunted, which sees contestants pose as fugitives from a team of ‘hunters’ for a chance of winning £100,000.
(He was unsuccessful, but complained “lying, intimidation & threats” by the show’s producers had undermined his efforts after he was caught.)
He claims he entered politics following “the rise of UKIP”, accusing the Brexit-supporting party of “legitimising racism and everything that I was standing against”.
Previously, he had questioned why “Israel” is not “considered terrorists” [sic] and criticised “British Jews that are currently part of the IDF (Israel Defence Force) helping in the slaughter of [the] innocent” in social media posts from 2014.
An older tweet suggested family members in his native Somalia might be able to use a strike by immigration officials to circumvent border controls, writing: “My relatives in Somalia can now enter the country with ease as tomorrow all the Immigration Border Agency Staff are on Strike!”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.