First of all U.S. President Donald Trump attempted to use the London terror attack to promote his controversial and unpopular travel ban. Trump then followed up with an early Sunday morning Twitter attack on London Mayor Sadiq Khan, criticizing political correctness and condemning gun control.
Twitter attack by Trump
As everyone knows by now, Twitter is Trump’s platform of choice for uncontrollably spewing out whatever he is thinking at that moment. As reported by Blasting News, on Saturday he used the news of the London terror attack – which saw seven people dead and another 48 injured – to promote his travel ban, despite the fact that it is most likely the terrorists involved were living in the U.K., as has been seen in the past.
As noted by The New York Daily News, when London Mayor Sadiq Khan took to Twitter himself, in an effort to calm Londoners’ fears over the terror attack, it was like a red flag to the U.S. President, who once again took to the social media platform. He particularly didn’t like the fact that Khan told Londoners not to be alarmed over the terror attack.
Angry Brits are accusing Donald Trump of 'fake news' over tweets misrepresenting Sadiq Khan #LondonAttacks https://t.co/9rSH6ogMiL pic.twitter.com/O5eGZLOyo4
— HuffPost UK (@HuffPostUK) June 4, 2017
London Mayor reassures Londoners
What Khan did was to tell Londoners that there were no words to describe how people in London were feeling today after the brutal attack.
He said he was “appalled and furious” at the sickening attack against innocent people in the city.
Khan condemned the terrorists in the strongest possible terms, calling them “barbaric cowards,” and saying there is no justification for their actions. He went on to say his thoughts were with everyone affected by the attack and he thanked the emergency services who tackled the terrorists and helped those that were injured.
Khan went on to urge all Londoners to remain calm and vigilant among the heightened police presence in the city, but said that London is their city and they must never let the terrorists win and that London will never be “cowed by terrorism.”
The full speech made by Khan can be heard here.
We are all shocked and angry today - but this is our city. We will never let these cowards win and we will never be cowed by terrorism. pic.twitter.com/kcosumkdCR
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) June 4, 2017
Trump then hit Twitter, saying that there were seven dead and 48 injured in the terror attack and going on to mock the London mayor for saying there is "no reason to be alarmed." He went on to state that political correctness must stop and that governments must respond to increase security for their people, saying if they don't get smart, things will only get worse.
At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is "no reason to be alarmed!"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2017
We must stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people. If we don't get smart it will only get worse
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2017
To wrap up, Trump went on to attack the gun control debate in the U.S., asking Khan if he noticed they are not involved in a gun debate right now and saying this is because the London terrorists used a truck and knives.
Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? That's because they used knives and a truck!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2017
As noted by USA Today, gun laws in the U.K.
are much stricter than they are in the U.S. and semi-automatic rifles are prohibited. That report quotes the U.K. gun homicide report for 2011 as showing there were 0.07 gun-related homicides per 100,000 Brits, while in contrast, the U.S. suffers three gun homicides for every 100,000 Americans.
In response to the Twitter attack, Khan's office responded that the London mayor is too busy working with police and the government to coordinate a response to the terror attack to respond to Trump's "ill-informed tweet."
Sadiq Khan's team says the mayor of London has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump's tweets. https://t.co/i6f8Wv7jbu pic.twitter.com/akJGhFxlZ3
— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) June 4, 2017