The mayor of London reignited his bitter feud with President Trump on the eve of his state visit, saying Britain should not be rolling out the red carpet for a president he compared with “fascists of the 20th century.”
Sadiq Khan’s extraordinary salvo provoked an immediate outcry from Trump supporters such as Nigel Farage, the Brexit Party leader, who warned of the risk to U.S.-U.K. relations.
Writing in the Observer, Khan said, “President Donald Trump is just one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat.”
“The far-right is on the rise around the world, threatening our hard-won rights and freedoms and the values that have defined our liberal, democratic societies for more than 70 years,” he said. “Viktor Orban in Hungary, Matteo Salvini in Italy, Marine Le Pen in France and Nigel Farage here in the UK are using the same divisive tropes of the fascists of the 20th century to garner support, but with new, sinister methods to deliver their message.”
He has clashed publicly with Trump since 2016, when he called the then-presidential candidate a “buffoon” for demanding a halt to Muslims entering the U.S.
Trump hit back after the London Bridge terror attacks in 2017, accusing Khan of not doing enough in his response.
In his latest criticism, Khan said it was too late for the state visit invitation to be rescinded but called on Theresa May, the prime minister, to reject what he called Trump’s “divisive behavior.”
“In years to come, I suspect this state visit will be one we look back on with profound regret and acknowledge that we were on the wrong side of history,” he said.
Trump is due to be welcomed at Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II on Monday morning.
Farage, who fostered close relations with the Trump campaign after his upset win in the 2016 Brexit referendum, issued an angry denunciation of Khan and other protesters.
“I’m sorry, what is wrong with you people? Whether you like him or not, he is the president of the United States of America,” he said on his talk radio show.
“I didn’t like Obama very much, but I wasn’t going to suggest he shouldn’t come,” Farage said. “That would have been absolutely crazy.”
