President Donald Trump retweeted Wednesday morning three inflammatory videos from a British far-right account rife with anti-Muslim content.
The videos, posted by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of Britain First, a far-right and ultra-nationalist political group, depict purported Muslims assaulting people and, in one video, smashing a statue of the Virgin Mary.
Trump, who has previously warned that immigration from Muslim-majority nations threatens European and US security, frequently retweets other messages whose political views he finds favorable. But he has seldom shared messages as offensive and explosive as he did on Wednesday, and the retweets were immediately met with outrage in the United Kingdom.
Fransen reacted jubilantly online, touting that the videos had been shared with Trump’s nearly 44 million followers. “GOD BLESS YOU TRUMP!” she wrote in all caps.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
Fransen was found guilty of religiously aggravated harassment in November 2016 after abusing a Muslim woman wearing a hijab while she was with her four children. Fransen was fined by the court and ordered to pay costs.
In a separate development, Fransen was also charged over using “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior” during a speech she made in Belfast in Northern Ireland. She is set to appear at Belfast Magistrates Court on Thursday December 14.
Outrage in UK
Trump’s retweets were leading several major British news websites Wednesday morning, and leading officials condemned him on Twitter.
The Muslim Council of Britain slammed Trump, saying the retweets were “the clearest endorsement yet from the US President of the far-right and their vile anti-Muslim propaganda.
“We cannot give such bigotry a free pass. We hope our Prime Minister and Home Secretary will distance the UK from Mr. Trump and his comments, and will reiterate the government’s abhorrence to all forms of extremism,” the group said in a statement.
Brendan Cox, the husband of Jo Cox, the British MP who was murdered last year by a man who reportedly shouted “Britain First” as he attacked her, tweeted, “Trump has legitimized the far right in his own country, now he’s trying to do it in ours. Spreading hatred has consequences & the President should be ashamed of himself.”
Labour lawmaker David Lammy told the President he was “not welcome in my country and my city.”
“Trump sharing Britain First. Let that sink in. The President of the United States is promoting a fascist, racist, extremist hate group whose leaders have been arrested and convicted. He is no ally or friend of ours. @realDonaldTrump you are not welcome in my country and my city,” Lammy said.
Asked about Trump’s retweets on CNN’s “New Day,” former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he found the tweets “bizarre and disturbing.”
“I think it causes friends and allies to question where is he coming from with this. So it has all kinds of ripple effects both in terms of perhaps inciting or encouraging anti-Muslim violence, and as well, causes, I think, our friends and allies to wonder about the judgment of the President of the United States,” he said.
Trump’s call for travel ban
Trump has repeatedly used examples of terrorism and immigration in Europe to bolster his case for a travel ban in the United States against several Muslim-majority nations. The travel ban would not affect travel from the United Kingdom. On September 15, the President reacted on Twitter to a terrorist attack in London, calling the terrorists “sick and demented people,” ending the tweet by declaring, “Must be proactive!”
He also added to his tweet that he would like to see a stronger travel ban: “The travel ban into the United States should be far larger, tougher and more specific-but stupidly, that would not be politically correct!”
Several versions of Trump’s travel ban have been tied up in court battles. The Supreme Court is currently considering whether to allow all of the third version of the ban to go into effect.
As a candidate, Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the US and often cited Muslim migration to Europe as his justification, tweeting in December 2015 that the UK was “trying hard to disguise their massive Muslim problem.”
The President has also been critical of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the past for her handling of immigration into Germany.
“What’s happening in Germany, I always thought Merkel was like this great leader. What she’s done in Germany is insane. It is insane. They’re having all sorts of attacks,” Trump said in an October 2015 interview.
