Sadiq Khan has said that Donald Trump is a “racist, sexist and homophobe” and urged Labour to do more to “call him out”.
Speaking to Politico, the Mayor of London said that he was “worried” about the prospect of the former President returning to power in the US.
It comes a week after shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy said that Mr Trump’s policy on Nato was “often misunderstood”, in a sign that Labour would be prepared to work with a future Republican administration.
Mr Khan said that Mr Trump was “not misunderstood”, adding: “He’s a racist. He’s a sexist. He’s a homophobe. And it’s very important, particularly when you’ve got a special relationship, that you treat them as a best mate.
“If my best mate was a racist, or a sexist or a homophobe, I’d call him out and I’d explain to him why those views are wrong.”
The latest polls suggest that Mr Trump is on course for victory in November’s US presidential election and he leads President Joe Biden in several key swing states.
In the UK, Labour have a significant national poll lead and look set to return to power.
Mr Khan said that he is “worried” about the prospect of a second Trump presidency.
“You know, I’ve been speaking to governors from America. I’ve been speaking to mayors from America. Of course, we’ll have a relationship whoever the president is. But we shouldn’t be literally rolling out a red carpet for a state visit.
“It’s really important that we of course, have good relations with Democrats and Republicans. But I lost count of the amount of Republicans I’ve spoken to who are also worried about a Trump presidency.”
Mr Khan and Mr Trump have clashed before on a number of occasions, including during Mr Trump’s presidency.
Mr Trump first criticised the London leader in 2016 for his response to the London Bridge terror attacks, then during a visit to the UK in 2019 called Mr Khan a “stone cold loser” who had failed to manage crime rates in the capital.
In 2022, Mr Khan said that Mr Trump’s period as US president led to a significant rise in racial abuse directed at him.
He told an audience at Stanford University: “During those four years he was president, that led to me having to receive police protection and a lot of racial abuse.
“In the last year of him being president, once he was banned from Twitter, I received the least racial abuse of any time over five years.
“On the one hand, social media – Facebook Twitter – great. On the other hand, that’s the consequence of lack of control and lack of regulation.”
