BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa Mays spokesman says US President Donald Trump was wrong to share anti-Muslim videos tweeted by a UK far-right leader.
Mr Trump retweeted three videos to his 43 million followers posted by Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of Britain First. Fransen has been convicted of a hate crime in Britain and currently faces more charges.
UUK politicians have called for Theresa may to cancel Donald Trumps upcoming visit to the UK after he retweeted a series of anti-Muslim videos.
Ms Mays spokesman, James Slack, said Britain First seeks to divide communities through its use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions.
He said it is wrong for the president to have done this. But Ms Mays office said an invitation for Mr Trump to pay a state visit to Britain was not being withdrawn. Opposition politicians are calling for the visit to be cancelled after the far-right retweets.
Murdered British politician Jo Cox with husband Brendan. Brendan Cox said Donald Trumps should be ashamed of himself over the tweets.Murdered British politician Jo Cox with husband Brendan. Brendan Cox said Donald Trumps should be ashamed of himself over the tweets. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied
It comes as the husband of Jo Cox, the British Parliament member who was murdered last year by a man yelling Britain first, Fransens partys name, last year said Mr Trump should be ashamed of himself.
Trump has legitimised the far right in his own country, now hes trying to do it in ours, Brendan Cox wrote on Twitter.
Spreading hatred has consequences & the President should be ashamed of himself.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended Mr Trumps tweets, saying he wants to promote strong borders and strong national security.
Ms Sanders said in a White House press briefing overnight that she was not sure how Mr Trump found the videos, which he retweeted from the leader of an extreme far-right British group. Asked if the president had a responsibility to verify the content, Ms Sanders said: Whether its a real video, the threat is real and that is what the president is talking about. She says she had not discussed with the president how it could impact his relationship with British Prime Minister Theresa May.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations also condemned Mr Trump for retweeting the inflammatory videos, which purport to show violence being committed by Muslims and could fuel anti-Islam sentiments.
The groups executive director, Nihad Awad, said in a statement that Mr Trump is clearly telling members of his base that they should hate Islam and Muslims.
Awad says Mr Trumps posts amount to incitement to violence against American Muslims and is calling on political and religious leaders to condemn Mr Trumps tweets.
Awad says that on Twitter, the council has recorded 3,296 anti-Muslim incidents this year.
He says we havent heard a peep from you. Some president.
Fransen quickly responded on Twitter, saying:
DONALD TRUMP HIMSELF HAS RETWEETED THESE VIDEOS AND HAS AROUND 44 MILLION FOLLOWERS! GOD BLESS YOU TRUMP! GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Following Trumps tweets, British politician Chuka Umunna called for the US PresidentS invite to visit the United Kingdom in 2018 to be withdrawn.
I dont think the president of the United States, a president that has not only promoted bigotry, misogyny and racism in his own country, I dont think he is welcome here, he told Sky News.
Tweeting about the firing of US TV host Matt Lauer over sexual harassment allegations, he segued: Will they terminate low ratings Joe Scarborough based on the unsolved mystery that took place in Florida years ago? Investigate!
The unsolved mystery Mr Trump is referring to is the death of Lori Klausutis, 28, an intern who was found dead in Scarboroughs Florida office in 2001 when he was still a Republican congressman.
To be clear, there is no mystery in her death.
The medical examiner concluded that Ms Klausutis lost consciousness because of an abnormal heart rhythm and fell, hitting her head on a desk.
The head injury caused the death, he said a month after she was found.
There is no evidence of foul play, but the tragedy has been spun into a conspiracy theory, which has now been repeated by the President of the United States.
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