Donald Trump says UK politicians should be thanking him for “saying what needed to be said” about the state of Muslim radicalization in some parts of London. The Republican presidential candidate said he did not want US cities to become like Paris or London, suggesting “We have places in London that are so radicalized the police are afraid for their own lives.”
London mayor Boris Johnson pushed back, saying: “The real reason I wouldn’t go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump.” And David Cameron described Trump’s idea as “divisive and unhelpful,” arguing that “at a time when America should be doing everything we can to fight radical jihadists, Mr Trump is supplying them with new propaganda.”
There was a lot of pushback, from around the world, Trump franchises and products in the Middle East were being boycotted, every self-respecting leader seemed to use Trump for target practice—except for his fellow Republican candidates who know better than to attack a Republican with a Muslim chip on his shoulder. Then came the petition.
The UK parliament and government a few years ago established a petition website where citizens and residents of the UK are invited to solicit signatures from other Brits, and if your plight received more than 100,000 signatures, parliament will consider it for a debate.
The petition Block Donald J Trump from UK entry invited British people who believe Donald J Trump should be banned from UK entry to sign up. By way of an explanation, the authors wrote, “The UK has banned entry to many individuals for hate speech. The same principles should apply to everyone who wishes to enter the UK. If the United Kingdom is to continue applying the ‘unacceptable behaviour’ criteria to those who wish to enter its borders, it must be fairly applied to the rich as well as poor, and the weak as well as powerful.”
As of Thursday night, the tally stands at 455,263 signatures.
Trump did not take all that bad press sitting down, and, in fact, decided to double down:
He tweeted: “The United Kingdom is trying hard to disguise their massive Muslim problem. Everybody is wise to what is happening, very sad! Be honest.”
“The UK politicians should be thanking me instead of pandering to political correctness,” Trump said. “In fact, in an article out today, many police officers in London have come forward to confirm their fears of terrorism. I only said what needed to be said, and when I am elected no one will be tougher or smarter than me. I will work very hard and effectively to defeat terrorism.”
Donald J. Trump’s war with the world and a good portion of the US began last week, when the candidate, on the heels of the San Bernardino, CA massacre carried out by a Muslim couple, called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what’s going on.”
Then, when he was accused of racism, Trump actually said he had many Muslim friends, insisting, “Many Muslim friends of mine are in agreement with me. They say, ‘Donald, you brought something up to the fore that is so brilliant and so fantastic.'”
Then there’s the bottom line in Trump’s current enterprise, which is getting the Republican nomination. And on that front, having been forced to cancel his visit to his good friend Bibi in Israel until after the US elections, unofficially banned in the UK, with a billion and a half Muslims who now believe he is worse than a Jew, Trump’s polls have never been better.