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| Donald Trump throws another curve ball |
Earlier today, Donald Trump retweeted three anti-Islamic videos posted by Jayda Fransen, a leader of Britain First. The group is so heinous they are banned from mosques in England and Wales.
Fransen was convicted of religiously aggravated harassment in November 2016 after abusing a woman wearing a hijab.
President Trump is retweeting the deputy leader of Britain First, a fringe, far-right, ultranationalist British group.The “leader of the free world” is not only giving oxygen to fascists, but European fascists. Astonishing. pic.twitter.com/gPmydDMKoE
— ᴊᴀᴄᴋ ᴍᴏᴏʀᴇ جاك (@JFXM) November 29, 2017
Trump sharing Britain First. Let that sink in. The President of the United States is promoting a fascist, racist, extremist hate group whose leaders have been arrested and convicted. He is no ally or friend of ours. @realDonaldTrump you are not welcome in my country and my city.— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) November 29, 2017
In addition to “amplifying” the voice of a fascist group, the videos Trump retweeted have been called into question as to the veracity of the content.
One of the videos, showing a “Muslim migrant” assailant beating the Dutch boy is in fact neither a migrant or a Muslim.
So, you understand what a bone-headed move this was, yes?
Folks in the UK were so upset the office of Prime Minister Theresa May issued a statement saying Trump was “wrong” to retweet material from a group that promotes “hateful narratives.”
“British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far-right which is the antithesis of the values that this country represents: decency tolerance and respect,” said the statement.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the media it didn’t matter if the videos he retweeted were real or not.
“Whether it’s a real video, the threat is real and that is what the president is talking about,” Sanders told reporters.
Question on President Trump’s retweets this morning: Does it matter if it’s a fake video?Sarah Sanders: “I’m not talking about the nature of the video. I think you’re focusing on the wrong thing. The threat is real, and that’s what the President is talking about.” pic.twitter.com/Nh2YyuLD01
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 29, 2017
Folks in the Twitterverse were duly confounded:
Trump sharing Britain First. Let that sink in. The President of the United States is promoting a fascist, racist, extremist hate group whose leaders have been arrested and convicted. He is no ally or friend of ours. @realDonaldTrump you are not welcome in my country and my city.— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) November 29, 2017
People really need to Understand just how Far Trump has gone by Retweeting these sickening Britain First Videos.This was also an attack on Britain and their morals. Here is what Britain thinks of this morning’s events: pic.twitter.com/3MOewInpvY
— Brian Krassenstein🐬 (@krassenstein) November 29, 2017
I join the urgent call for President @realDonaldTrump to remove his Britain First retweets and make clear his opposition to racism and hatred. https://t.co/JosYO7vwEG pic.twitter.com/v66KQVtWQq— Justin Welby ن (@JustinWelby) November 29, 2017