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| Khan Sadiq on left. Trump on the right. |
US
President Donald Trump's war of words with the Mayor of London continued
Monday, with the two men trading barbs even as the city mourns the victims of
Saturday's terror attack. Speaking to the UK's Channel 4 News, London Mayor
Sadiq Khan reiterated that he thought a planned state visit to the UK for Trump
should be called off.
"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. "When you have a special relationship it is no different from
when you have got a close mate. You stand with them in times of adversity, but
you call them out when they are wrong. And there are many things about which
Donald Trump is wrong." He said his position on the planned state visit
had remained consistent.
In
January of this year, Khan insisted Trump's state visit to Britain be canceled
after the US President attempted to impose a travel ban on Muslim nations -- a
policy that he labeled "cruel and shameful."
The
British politician was largely dismissive of two tweets sent by Trump in the wake
of the attacks, which misconstrued a statement from Khan. In the immediate
aftermath of the attack, Khan said there was "no cause for alarm"
when referring to a visible increase in police activity on the streets of
London.
Trump
appeared to misconstrue the statement on Sunday when he tweeted: "At least
7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is
"no reason to be alarmed!"
Trump
renewed his criticism of Khan on Monday, a day after attacking his handling of
the weekend's terror attack in the city. Trump said: "Pathetic excuse by
London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his 'no reason to be alarmed'
statement. (Mainstream media) is working hard to sell it!"
Following
a vigil held near the city's famous Tower Bridge, Khan said that as he deals
with the fallout from the latest attack on the British capital, he hasn't
"got the time to respond to tweets from Donald Trump."