US President Donald Trump has told Theresa May to ‘focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom’ instead of worrying about him, in a tweet.
Trump initially tagged the wrong Theresa May in his tweet, leaving out the underscore in her username, before reposting with the correct handle - and a full stop before the name so his whole timeline could see.
It comes after May called Trump out for retweeting videos from Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of far-right group Britain First.
One video shows purports to show what is described as a ‘Muslim migrant’ beating up a Dutch boy on crutches, another is titled ‘Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!’ and a third is called ‘Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!’
The Dutch embassy in the US immediately responded, according to The Guardian, saying the perpetrator of the violent act in the first video mentioned was born and raised in the Netherlands, and not a ‘Muslim migrant’ at all.
It’s thought that right-wing US commentator Ann Coulter may have been the reason Trump saw the videos in the first place – as she is one of the 45 people he follows on Twitter, and she retweeted them.
She admitted she has no idea who Britain First are, and didn’t check before posting the videos. Coulter said there was no need for her to check: ‘A video is a video is a video,’ she said according to the The Independent.
‘I think [Trump] has only given as good as he gets. I think he has been verbally attacked from the mother country for a lot longer than he has been attacking Britain,’ she added.
A spokesperson for Theresa May said it was 'wrong for the president to have done this,' according to the BBC. May is currently in Amman, Jordan where she will meet king, Abdullah II of Jordan, and prime minister Hani Al-Mulki.
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London Mayor Sadiq Khan has also condemned Trump’s actions in a statement.
‘President Trump yesterday used twitter to promote a vile, extremist group that exists solely to sow division and hatred in our country,’ it read.
‘Many Brits who love America and Americans will see this as a betrayal of the special relationship between our two countries. It beggars belief that the president of our closest ally doesn’t see that his support of this extremist group actively undermines the values of tolerance and diversity that makes Britain so great.’
Britain First deputy leader Fransen has since thanked Trump for the retweets, and asked for his help as she has been charged with using ‘threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour’ in speeches made at an anti-terrorism rally in August, according to the Independent.
The issue was discussed at the House of Commons today, and MPs had their say.
‘Trump has given [Britain First] a rocket boost,’ said Labour’s Yvette Cooper. ‘We know from the plaque in the Commons commemorating Jo Cox where this leads. We must stand up and say no.’
‘British people overwhelmingly reject the views of the far right,’ said Conservative Amber Rudd. ‘This government will not tolerate any groups that spread hate.’
What is Britain First?
Britain First is a far-right political party and ‘street movement’ that was founded in 2011, and is currently led by British nationalist politician Paul Golding.
‘We want our people to come first,’ says its mission statement. ‘Before foreigners, asylum seekers or migrants and we are overtly proud of this stance.
‘We will not stand back and watch as our people are made second class citizens by leftwing-liberal policies and political correctness.’
Its latest campaigns include demanding the BBC to stop discriminating against white Britons by advertising an internship to people from black, Asian or non-white minority backgrounds, a petition to stop the Cheadle Mosque expansion, and a call for free speech for Jayda Fransen.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.