DOWNING STREET has said US President Donald Trump was ‘wrong’ to retweet three anti-Muslim videos posted by the deputy leader of far-right group Britain First.
Earlier today, Trump shared videos on Twitter, originally posted by Jayda Fransen, which claimed to show attacks perpetrated by Muslims.
Fransen is currently on bail facing four charges of causing religiously aggravated harassment.
She’ll also appear in court in Northern Ireland charged with using threatening and abusive language during an anti-terrorism demonstration in the summer.
Trump’s retweeting of Fransen has prompted widespread condemnation, including from the husband of murdered MP Jo Cox.
Brendan Cox said: “Trump has legitimised the far right in his own country, now he’s trying to do it in ours. Spreading hatred has consequences & the President should be ashamed of himself.”
Ms Cox’s murderer Thomas Mair repeatedly shouted ‘Britain First’ as he attacked.
A statement from Downing Street said: “It is wrong for the President to have done this.
“Britain First seeks to divide communities through their use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions. They cause anxiety to law-abiding people.
“British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far right, which is the antithesis of the values which this country represents: decency, tolerance and respect.”
The White House, however, defended the President’s retweets with Press Secretary Sarah Sanders saying: “Whether it’s a real video, the threat is real. His goal is to promote strong border security and strong national security,” according to CBS.
One video was captioned: ‘Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches’ while another purported to show a Muslim man destroying a statue of the Virgin Mary.
The third tweet shared by Trump’s @realdDonaldTrump account was titled ‘Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death.’
This Twitter thread reveals that all three are more than six months old.
All three of those videos posted by Jayda Fransen and retweeted by Trump are moe than 6 months old. 2 are from 2013. pic.twitter.com/W1r62uKXs1
— Alastair Reid (@ajreid) November 29, 2017
Far-right propaganda videos of this nature are frequently shared on social media by the Britain First group, which was founded by former members of the British National Party.
They are a political party but have no elected members and have never come close to winning any seats.
Leader Paul Golding stood against Sadiq Khan in the 2016 London mayoral election, coming in a distant eighth.
He turned his back on the newly elected mayor, who is the first Muslim to be voted into the position.
Earlier, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: “I hope our Government will condemn far-right retweets by Donald Trump. They are abhorrent, dangerous and a threat to our society.”
His party colleague David Lammy wrote: “Trump sharing Britain First. Let that sink in. The President of the United States is promoting a fascist, racist, extremist hate group whose leaders have been arrested and convicted. He is no ally or friend of ours. @realDonaldTrump you are not welcome in my country and my city.
“Do not forget that the man who murdered Jo Cox shouted “Britain First”. Trump has gone beyond the pale today.”
Green MP Caroline Lucas tweeted: “The President of the US has just retweeted a convicted British fascist. @theresa_may must publicly condemn him immediately. We cannot stand by and watch @realDonaldTrump spew this hate.”
A tweet from Fransen’s account, which is verified by Twitter, appeared to celebrate the retweets.
She said: “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!”
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe