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Husband of murdered British MP: Trump ‘should be ashamed of himself’

Camille Fine

The husband of a member of the British Parliament murdered last year by a man who yelled “Britain First” says President Trump “should be ashamed of himself” for sharing videos from the far-right British group.

“Trump has legitimised the far right in his own country, now he’s trying to do it in ours,” Brendan Cox said. “Spreading hatred has consequences & the President should be ashamed of himself.”

Cox’s wife, Jo Cox, was shot and stabbed by Thomas Mair, a 53-year-old man who attacked her as she met with constituents in June 2016, a week before the vote removing Great Britain from the European Union.

{mosads}Mair shouted “Britain first,” a slogan tied to the pro-Brexit movement and anti-immigration rhetoric, as he attacked Cox. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. The judge sentencing Mair said he had been motivated by hate and that his acts were nothing short of terrorism, according to the BBC.

Trump on Wednesday retweeted a series of videos purporting to show violent acts by Muslims sent out by the leader of the ultranationalist Britain First Party, Jayda Fransen.

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.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump called for Muslims to be barred from entering the U.S. Earlier this year, Trump’s administration implemented a travel ban aimed at six majority-Muslim countries, which has been contested in court on multiple occasions.

Tags Britain First British parliament Donald Trump Nationalism

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