President Donald Trump was accused of promoting Islamophobia on Wednesday morning after he retweeted allegedly “anti-Muslim” videos shared by the deputy leader of the far-right nationalist Britain First party.
In the early Wednesday hours, Trump shared three videos posted by Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen, who was recently charged for “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour” after she gave a speech at the “Northern Ireland Against Terrorism” rally.
The videos Trump shared include a video of what Fransen claims to be a Muslim mob throwing a boy off a roof, a Muslim man attacking a Virgin Mary statue, and a “Muslim migrant” attacking a boy on crutches:
Fransen responded to Trump sharing her videos by saying, “GOD BLESS YOU TRUMP! GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DONALD TRUMP, HAS RETWEETED THREE OF DEPUTY LEADER JAYDA FRANSEN'S TWITTER VIDEOS! DONALD TRUMP HIMSELF HAS RETWEETED THESE VIDEOS AND HAS AROUND 44 MILLION FOLLOWERS! GOD BLESS YOU TRUMP! GOD BLESS AMERICA! OCS @JaydaBF @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/BiQfQkTra9
— Jayda Fransen (@JaydaBF) November 29, 2017
However, not everyone was thrilled with Trump’s choice of retweets:
I hope our Government will condemn far-right retweets by Donald Trump. They are abhorrent, dangerous and a threat to our society.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) November 29, 2017
Good morning, Mr President @realDonaldTrump - what the hell are you doing retweeting a bunch of unverified videos by Britain First, a bunch of disgustingly racist far-right extremists?
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 29, 2017
Please STOP this madness & undo your retweets.
Donald Trump spending the morning attacking Muslims by retweeting videos by an extremist group such as Britain First is low - even for his very low standards.
— Damian Cullen (@Damian_Cullen) November 29, 2017
That Trump is retweeting Britain First tells us that he doesn't even buy his own slogan of America First.
— Simran Jeet Singh (@SikhProf) November 29, 2017
It also shows that his version of nationalism is based on denigrating minorities, particularly Muslims.
this unrelenting campaign to dehumanise muslims is getting eerily familiar. We're just forced to watch as the "leader of the free world" chooses to use his power to demonise us to his rabid audience. It's not even subtle anymore. They know they can get away with it.
— Amna (@AGlasgowGirl) November 29, 2017
The Independent, AOL, and the Huffington Post all decried the tweets as “Islamophobic.”
According to the Britain First website, their political claims their policies are “pro-British.”
The leader and cofounder of Britain First, Paul Golding, was jailed in 2016 for violating a ban that prevented him from entering a mosque. In 2015, he threatened to bury a pig at the cite of a prospective mosque and received a “hate crime warning.”
Britain First has been blamed for the death of Labour MP Jo Cox. The man who killed Cox reportedly yelled, “Britain first!” before the attack. Labour MPs are now reportedly calling for Trump to be banned from visiting.
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