Trump 'singled me out' because of my faith, London's mayor Sadiq Khan says

Published November 9, 2020
London Mayor Sadiq Khan. — Bloomberg-WP
London Mayor Sadiq Khan. — Bloomberg-WP

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said the outgoing US President Donald Trump "singled [him] out" during his term in the office for "no other reason" than his faith.

"Being a Muslim ain't easy, it isn't easy," Khan said, speaking to the LBC radio on Monday.

"It's never been harder to be a Muslim than the last four years."

Khan said the world had "for the first time the leader of the free world, a mainstream politician, perpetuating a view that Islam and the West are incompatible".

The London mayor said Trump had maintained a view that "all of us [Muslims] must be bad, or must be terrorist because of the actions of a very small minority".

"Let's be frank, the reason I was singled out was not because of any other reason than my faith."

He said this led to Muslims around the world "carrying an additional weight" due to the actions and words of Donald Trump.

Khan also underlined that many across the globe were not happy with the way Trump treated minorities and people who were different to him.

Trump repeatedly insulted Khan on Twitter since his election as the mayor of London in 2016.

"Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his 'no reason to be alarmed' statement," Trump wrote after a statement by the mayor following the 2017 London Bridge attack.

"I don't think we should roll out the red carpet to the president of the USA in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for," Khan said after being targeted.

In 2018, Trump again attacked Khan, saying he had done "a bad job on crime, if you look, all of the horrible things going on there, with all of the crime that is being brought in".

The following year he tweeted that Khan was "a national disgrace who is destroying the City of London!"

Khan's remarks came in the Islamophobia Awareness Month during which the Muslim Council of Britain, the country's biggest Muslim umbrella group, holds events to raise awareness about anti-Muslim hate crimes among the public.

"It is unacceptable for a Muslim politician to be discriminated against because of their faith," the council said on Monday.

"Unfortunately, Islamophobia permeates through all aspects of public life," it added.

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