A petition to bar Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump from entering the United Kingdom reached over 200,000 signatures Wednesday, within 24 hours of being posted, and will soon be debated by the House of Commons.
The petition was first submitted to U.K. Home Secretary Theresa May in late November, who’s office was responsible for reviewing and posting it to a government-run website where U.K. residents could then sign it.
“We are looking at a U.S. presidential candidate who wants to institute policies which, to me, are fascism,” Scottish resident Suzanne Kelly, who authored the petition, wrote in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
She continued, “Trump persists with comments which I feel denigrating [sic] races, nationalities, women [and] religious groups. I would term this hate speech, and to my mind he becomes more outlandish and unacceptable as each day passes. I am not alone in feeling this way by a long shot.”
Weeks before the self-funded billionaire called for a “total and complete” ban on Muslims seeking to enter the U.S., Kelly cited Trump’s “continued, unrepentant hate speech and unacceptable behavior” as the reason lawmakers should forbid him from visiting the U.K.
“The U.K. has banned entry to many individuals for hate speech,” she said at the time.
In May, Parliament announced U.S. rapper Tyler, the Creator was banned from entering the country for three to five years due to what they claimed were “violent” lyrics to a song he debuted in 2009. Two years prior, the U.K. blocked two anti-Muslim U.S. bloggers from entry.
A spokesperson for U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said the request, if debated and approved by the House of Commons, would likely be viewed as “hypothetical” since Trump hasn’t announced any upcoming plans to visit. The avid golfer last traveled to the U.K. in July for the Women’s British Open.
“I understand he has a primary to fight in six weeks and I’m sure that is what his focus will be on,” the spokesman told Sky News.
Laura Diebelius, a communications officer for the House of Commons, told the Washington Examiner that Parliament’s Petitions Committee will determine a date for the petition to be debated when they next meet on Jan. 5.
Trump sits second in the Washington Examiner‘s presidential power rankings.
