British PM: It’s ‘wrong’ for Trump to have retweeted anti-Muslim videos
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday condemned President Trump’s decision to share a series of videos purporting to show violent acts by Muslims.
Trump retweeted three videos that were first sent out by the leader of an ultranationalist political party in Great Britain, Britain First, who was once convicted of harassing a Muslim.
“Britain First seeks to divide communities in their use of hateful narratives which pedal lies and stoke tensions,” a spokesman for May said in a statement reported by NBC News.
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“This causes anxiety to law abiding people. British people overwhelming reject the prejudice rhetoric of the far-right, which is the antithesis of the values that this country represents; decency, tolerance and respect. It is wrong for the president to have done this.”
Trump, who during his campaign talked about barring Muslims from entering the country, faced widespread criticism after retweeting the videos.
One of the videos appears to show a man beating another young man holding crutches, while another shows a group of people kicking a man after he was thrown off a building.
The videos were originally tweeted by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of Britain First. Fransen was arrested earlier this month over a speech she gave this summer at a Northern Ireland Against Terrorism rally in Belfast, according to the BBC.
The Guardian reported last year that Fransen was found guilty of “religiously aggravated harassment” for verbal abuse of a woman wearing a hijab in front of her four children.
Other British politicians have since come out to criticize the decision to retweet the videos, with one British lawmaker calling for Trump’s invite to visit the United Kingdom next year to be withdrawn.
May has in the past been critical of Trump’s comments and policies.
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