Sadiq Khan hit back on Thursday after Donald Trump claimed that mass immigration has made London “unrecognisable”.
The Republican candidate revived unfounded allegations that Europe has left itself open to “jihad” as he addressed supporters in Wisconsin, on a break from defending himself in a New York hush money trial involving porn star Stormy Daniels.
“Look at Paris, look at London, they're no longer recognisable,” Mr Trump claimed.
Speaking after US riot police broke up several pro-Palestine student protests, he said that “we have incredible culture, tradition — nothing wrong with their culture, their tradition — we can’t let that happen here and I’ll never let it happen to the United States of America”.
Mr Khan issued a rebuttal as voters in the capital decided between giving him a third term as London Mayor or a first one for Conservative rival Susan Hall.
He told the Standard: “Today is an opportunity to show Donald Trump and my Tory opponent that London will always choose hope over fear and unity over division.
“This election will be close,” he insisted, despite enjoying a double-digit lead over Ms Hall in polls before Thursday.
The war of words extends a long-running feud between the Mayor and the former president, who has been called “ignorant” by Mr Khan.
Ms Hall meanwhile encouraged Mr Trump to “wipe the smile off” Mr Khan by winning the 2020 US election. She was contacted for comment about the Republican’s latest outburst.
Before the 2016 election, Mr Trump called for a ban on Muslims from certain countries entering the United States, and alleged that “radicalized” parts of London were no-go areas for police.
Boris Johnson, who was then the Mayor, accused Mr Trump of spouting “utter nonsense”, but has recently said the world was safer when he was president from 2017 to 2021. Then-Prime Minister David Cameron said the comments on Muslims were “divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong”.
