Mr Khan said he was “dismayed”; on the prospects of a second Trump presidency Photo: MATT ROURKE/AP
Labour should do more to “call out” Donald Trump for his racism and sexism, suggested Sadiq Khan.
Mr Khan, who recently won a third term as mayor of London, broke with his party's attempts to woo the former president ahead of this year's US election by calling on Labor to criticize Trump.
David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, began to charm the presumptive Republican nominee by praising him for increasing defense spending during his first term and suggesting the two men had “common ground”.
In trip In Washington last week, Lammy met with Chris LaCivita, Trump's campaign manager, and several of his allies on Capitol Hill.
On Thursday, Khan said he was “concerned” about the prospect of a second Trump presidency and suggested the party should criticize him for his views on minority groups.
Referring to Lammy's comment last week that Mr. Trump ” misunderstood” in Europe, mayor told Politico: “I'm very clear about Trump.
Special relationship
“He's a racist. He's sexist. He's homophobic. And it is very important, especially when you have a special relationship, to treat them like your best friend.
“If my best friend was racist, sexist or homophobic, I would call him and I would explain why views are erroneous.”
He added that as mayor he had “more freedom” to criticize Trump.
“I'm concerned about Donald Trump's presidency,” he said. “I talked to governors from America. I talked to mayors from America.
“Of course, we will have relations, no matter who the president is. But we shouldn't literally roll out the red carpet for a state visit.
“Of course, it's very important that we have good relationships with Democrats and Republicans.
” But I've lost count of the Republicans people I've spoken with who are also concerned about the Trump presidency.”
Mr Khan and Mr Trump have previously criticized each other. Before Trump's latest visit to London, he took to Twitter to call Khan a “cold loser” and “very stupid” after the mayor allowed protesters to erect a balloon effigy of the Republican leader as a child.
In In 2016, Khan called Trump's comments about Muslims “ignorant.” In response, the American challenged the mayor to an IQ test.
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