Starmer belatedly defends Sadiq Khan after Trump brands London mayor ‘horrible, vicious, disgusting’
Sir Keir Starmer has belatedly defended Sir Sadiq Khan after Donald Trump branded the London mayor “horrible, vicious, disgusting”.
In the attack, which reignited his long-standing feud with Sir Sadiq, the US president also described him as a “disaster” and suggested he had done a “terrible job”.
In an interview with PolicyPresident Trump said: “He’s a terrible mayor. He’s an incompetent mayor, but he’s a terrible, cruel, disgusting mayor. I think he’s done a terrible job. London is a different place. I love London. I love London. And I hate to see that happen.”
And he claimed Sir Sadiq, the city’s first Muslim mayor whose parents came from Pakistan, “was chosen because so many people came”. [to the UK]. “They’re voting for him now.”
A spokesman for the Prime Minister described the comments as “wrong”, 24 hours after Number 10 failed to defend the mayor.
On Tuesday Downing Street said only that the Prime Minister had a “strong” relationship with both men.
But a day later the Prime Minister’s press secretary told reporters: “These comments are wrong. The mayor of London is doing an excellent job in London, delivering free school meals in primary schools, cleaning London’s air with the world’s largest clean air zone and starting to open a record number of council houses.”
“The Prime Minister is immensely proud of the London mayor’s record and is proud to call him my colleague and friend.”
Earlier, culture secretary Lisa Nandy hit back at Mr Trump and defended the mayor. He told Sky News: “I totally disagree with those comments. I think Sadiq did a really good job… I’m sure if you asked the prime minister if he was sitting in this studio today, he would say the same things I said.”
On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said of Mr Trump’s attack: “It will not surprise you that I have a decidedly different view when it comes to the mayor of London. I think the mayor has done an excellent job for all of London.”
Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked Sir Sadiq since 2015, when the Labor politician condemned the then-presidential candidate’s proposed ban on Muslims traveling to the US.
In September he called Sir Sadiq “one of the worst mayors in the world” and claimed London wanted to “move to sharia law”.
The mayor of London hit back, accusing the president of being “racist, sexist, misogynist and Islamophobic.”
In July, Mr Trump targeted Sir Sadiq again, describing him as a “disgusting person”, prompting Sir Keir to step in to defend him.
He told the US president: “He’s actually a friend of mine.”
